


burnin' up for you, baby

by writer_inthe_dark



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dave (Umbrella Academy) is Alive, Drug Addiction, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Mutual Pining, Sharing a Bed, and a sexy firefighter, kinda...idk what actually qualifies as a meet cute but they are meeting and its cute so
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2020-05-19 15:37:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19359850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writer_inthe_dark/pseuds/writer_inthe_dark
Summary: Dave Katz is having a fairly normal day. A bit slower than usual, but he can't complain. He and his crew are about to respond the last call of their shift, a pretty basic apartment fire. What he doesn't know, is that the man of his dreams is waiting inside.OrDave is a firefighter that literally sweeps Klaus off his feet.





	1. come on baby, light my fire

_OOUUIIIIWIIOOUIWIIIOOOOO!!!_

The sirens on the firetruck blared as they raced through the city. The call made it seem like the fire was nothing major –just a kitchen fire gone out of control– but Dave was thankful that something interesting was finally happening. Their shift was about to end and they had only responded to a handful of calls all day, none of which involved any actual fires. Just a lot of faulty smoke alarms and broken carbon monoxide detectors.

Dave looked over at his partner Bonnie as she steered the truck around a sharp corner. Their two other partners, Rob and Clark, were in the back. Dave trusted them with his life. Since he had moved to New York, they had really become his best friends. They often spent their evenings off together at a small dive bar near the station –Rob is dating the bartender, so they all get lots of free drinks–, or playing on the fire department’s softball team, Hose Before Bros.

“Pulling up now. Fire’s on the third floor, apartment 3C!” Bonnie yelled as she pulled the truck to a stop. Rob and Clark grabbed the hose from the truck as Bonnie hopped out and hooked the other end to a hydrant. Dave plopped his helmet on and started trying to herd civilians out of the way. A crowd had gathered in front of the doorway, most likely residents of the building wondering when the smoke alarms would stop beeping.

After he had directed the people out of the way, Dave and his crew ran into the building and up the stairs. They made their way to apartment 3C and burst inside where Dave laid eyes on the most beautiful man he had ever seen, so beautiful that Dave almost didn’t notice the fire that was raging beside him. 

The skinny man seemed to be attempting to put out the fire by using the nozzle from the sink to squirt water at it with one hand, the other covering his nose and mouth from the smoke. Dave appreciated the effort, however this was an oil fire, so the small stream of water seemed to only be spreading the fire around. It was currently engulfing the stove top, oven, and several surrounding cabinets. 

As the group burst through the door, the man looked up at them with wild eyes. 

“Oh, thank Christ you guys are here! This fire is, like, immune to water or something!” 

The man immediately started coughing and Dave ran over to him and pulled him away from the fire. Dave took off his oxygen mask and put it on the man’s face to protect him from the smoke. He tried to be gentle as he pulled the straps over the man’s head, trying not to tug on his beautiful curly hair. The man simply stared at him with wide green eyes. Dave pried his eyes off him to look up at Bonnie as she gave out orders,

“Katz, get him out of here. Clark, you check the rest of the building for more civilians. Rob, you and I are putting this out pronto. Understood?”

The group gave their agreements. Dave turned and swept the man into his arms, and moved to leave the apartment. The man giggled as Dave walked, then murmured, “ _Woah_ , strong,” and began to giggle again. 

_Smoke inhalation_ , Dave thought, _must be making him a bit delirious._

“Hey, you with me? I’m getting you out of here, okay? You’re safe now.” Dave said. 

They made it to the main floor and Dave carried him out the front door. He walked a ways away and set him down gently on the sidewalk. Dave knelt in front of him and carefully slid the mask off him. He had dark tracks of eyeliner going down his face; the heat and smoke most likely causing his eyes to water and tears to streak the makeup down. Dave subconsciously reached his hand up to try to wipe the stain away. He tenderly stroked his thumb across the man’s cheek before realizing what he was doing. He made eye contact with the man, who looked like a deer caught in headlights, then quickly pulled back and started rambling apologies, 

“Sorry! Sorry, that was so weird! Oh my God! I– um, how are you feeling?” 

Dave cringed a bit as the man swallowed hard and replied, “Good. Good, yeah, I’m fine. All good here.” 

Dave wanted to determine the degree of smoke inhalation. There was no soot near his nose or mouth, nor did his skin seem discolored, so it probably wasn’t any sort of emergency. But Dave wanted to be certain and _that’s_ why the next thing he said was, “Good! That’s good. Can you tell me your name?”

He coughed a bit then said, “Well, I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours” He wiggled his eyebrows conspiratorially and continued with a wide grin, “I’m Klaus.” 

“Dave, Dave Katz.”

“ _Well_ , Dave Katz, thank you oh so much for saving my life in there. That fire was downright freaky. None of the water I was spraying at it was helping at all!” 

Dave chuckled a bit before responding, “Don’t worry, my partners are putting it out right now. It’s gonna be fine.”

Klaus bit his lip and looked to the air next to him, then back to Dave. 

“Is the kitchen going to be alright? Like, I know its kinda fucked up right now, but is this gonna be an ‘expensive-to-fix’ type of thing?”

He looked at Dave with half hope, half despair. Dave didn’t meet his eyes as he responded, 

“Well, we will assess the damage after everything is put out, but you will most likely need to get a new oven and stove top, and replace a few cabinets...and maybe repaint some areas to fix the smoke damage…” He stopped talking when he heard Klaus make a very distraught noise. He looked over to see the man nearly in tears, tugging at his hair. 

“Vanya’s going to hate me! Oh my god! I can’t believe I did this, I’m so _stupid!_ ”

Klaus sprung up and began pacing back and forth, muttering to himself. Dave leapt up off the ground and gripped him by his arms.

“Hey, look at me. She is not going to hate you. Walk me through what happened, I’m sure it was an accident.”

Klaus closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A tear slid down his cheek and it took all of Dave’s willpower not to brush it away as he started to ramble,

“Okay, so last night I was walking around, having a good time, but then it started getting late and I started getting tired and I was like, ‘oh jeez, I think I might just fall asleep right here’ _–at that point I was kinda laying around in this alley–_ but Ben was all like, ‘No Klaus, don’t be an idiot. Bill and his friends are still looking for you.’ Bill is this big guy, a friend of mine; I owe him a bit of money and he is kinda pissed about it. ANYWAYS, this was pretty late, so the bars were already closed, so it’s not like I could find someone to shack with easily. And it’s not like I had money for a motel room or anything, I’m a bit low on funds at the moment. I was about to try to see if my brother Diego would let me crash at his place, but he always gets all grumpy when I show up and I’m not ‘in the right frame of mind’ or whatever. Plus, I know that he has a girlfriend now and I didn’t want to bother him if he had company. So, I was in a bit of a pickle. Ben suggested I go to Vanya’s, but I really didn’t want to because of that whole _book_ situation. Fresh wounds and all that. But, I also figured that she would feel so bad about that that she might let me in _–people usually don’t answer when I call or come knocking at 4 a.m.–_ but isn’t that so shitty of me? I mean, I know the book thing was bad, but taking advantage of her guilt about it is probably about equal on the shit scale. I don’t know. All I know is that she was nice enough to let me stay. In the morning, she had to leave for her rehearsal so she left me a note about when she would be back. I felt so _guilty_ about the whole situation that I figured I should make it up to her. I thought it would be nice to make lunch for her or something, so I tried to make this pasta dish but I–”

His rambling was cut out by a choked sob. Dave lunged forward and pulled the man into a big hug. He didn’t follow some of what Klaus was talking about, but he got the gist. 

“Hey, it’s okay. You didn’t mean to; she will understand.” He rubbed circles into Klaus’ back as he sniffed.

“No she won’t. The one time she lets her stupid druggie brother over, and he burns down her apartment. Unbelievable.”

Dave pulled back so he could look directly into Klaus’ eyes as he said, “Klaus, you’re not stupid. This was an accident. It happens all the time. Understand?”

Klaus looked skeptical, but he nodded anyway. 

 

About ten minutes had passed when Dave heard small footsteps approaching and a quiet voice asking, “What happened?”

Dave turned around and saw... _Vanya Hargreeves?_ He would recognize her sad face anywhere, there were posters of it still in the windows of every bookstore in the city. Dave and just about everyone else in the world had read her book when it was published eight months ago. How could they not? A look into the lives of their childhood heroes? Of course it was an instant hit. But, the story ended up being less about superheroe heroics, and more about trauma inducing child abuse. Tabloids speculated that Vanya Hargreeves did not get her siblings’ consent before releasing the book filled with all their secrets. Those were just rumors, of course, but it wouldn’t surprise Dave if they were true. The book felt so personal that Dave felt guilty for even reading it. He felt way _more_ guilty when he heard Klaus’ tearful voice beside him and realized who he had spent the last twenty minutes talking to.

“Vanya...I’m so sorry, I–” He cut himself off as she turned to look at him. Her face changed from confusion to resignation.

She looked to her shoes and swallowed, then asked, “Klaus, what happened?” Her voice made it seem like she didn’t actually want to hear the answer. 

“I...,” he looked down and swallowed. When he looked back up, he had a wavering smile on his face, “It's a funny story, really. I thought it would be a _brilliant_ idea to make pasta! It’s dumb, _I know_ , but I’m actually a really great cook when everything goes right…”

There was silence and Dave looked from Klaus’ performance to Vanya’s downcast face. She looked at Klaus, looked to the ground, looked up again, then gave a stiff nod, walking towards the building. Klaus’ expression immediately broke and he ran after her.

“Vanya, wait! I’m so so sorry, I swear I didn’t mean to! I can make it up to you! Yeah! I’ll pay you back for everything and–”

“Klaus, you don’t have any money.”

He nearly flinched at the words. 

“I–,” He stopped, licked his lips and continued, “I can get some! Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m a very resourceful guy. _Loads_ of marketable skills! Not even a problem.”

He smiled and nodded like he was trying to convince himself. 

“I’ll make it up to you, Vanya.”

The woman looked at him with sad eyes, gave a half-hearted smile and quietly said, “Okay.”

She turned again and continued towards the building. Dave looked as Klaus covered his face with his hands, groaned very loudly, and plopped down to sit on the sidewalk. He looked so deflated from the man Dave saw earlier. He knew that his crew was wrapping up and that he would have to head back to the station any minute. He also knew that this wasn’t any of his business and that he should just stay out of it. But his heart was screaming at him to wrap his arms around Klaus and never let go. He couldn’t just leave him like this, so Dave cautiously walked over to where Klaus was sitting and sank down next to him.

Klaus looked over slightly as Dave sat and sighed.

“I just...can’t believe how much of an idiot I am.”

“You’re not an idiot, Klaus.”

Klaus laughed a bit and patted Dave’s leg. He didn’t notice Dave’s flushed face as he said, “Oh sweet, sweet Dave, I appreciate you saying that, but I really am.”

Dave cleared his throat, regaining composure, “So, what are you gonna do now?”

Klaus hummed, “Well that _is_ the million dollar question, isn’t it? I want to start making some money to fix,” he gestured wildly, Dave noticed a tattoo on his hand but couldn’t make out what it said, “all this. The problem is, it's only noon, and the ideas I have in mind are more night time activities. A bit clandestine.” 

He then looked to his left as if someone said something and scoffed, “Oh, shut up. At least this time it will be for a good cause.”

Dave didn’t know what to make of that. He really wished that he hadn’t read Vanya’s book, because now he feels like a creep for knowing so much about the man next to him. Klaus Hargreeves. The Seance. He knew that Klaus had been an addict since they were kids. He also knew that he has been homeless since he left The Academy. Dave could only imagine what he did for money, and in truth, he didn’t want to imagine. All he knew was that he didn’t want Klaus to ever have to do it again. 

“Hey, Katz!” Bonnie yelled to him. “We are about to head out, you ready?” 

Dave saw Rob and Clark hop into the truck as Bonnie looked at him, eyebrows raised. He looked back to Klaus, who was wiping his hands on his skinny jeans and getting ready to stand. 

“One sec, Bonnie, I’ll be right there!”

Dave didn’t want to leave. He wanted to stay with Klaus, but Klaus had already stood theatrically and began speaking in his whimsical voice, “Well Dave, looks like I’m off. Thank you _oh_ so much again for saving my life from that horrific fire. What a doozy! Any-whoo…” 

He waved his hand, **GOODBYE** it read, and started to saunter off. Dave panicked and blurted,

“Hey, why don’t you come with me?”

 _Idiot. Idiot. Idiot._

Klaus whipped around, “Excuse me?”

Dave started to stammer, “I mean, uh, would you like to get lunch with me? I-I know that you were making lunch when, uh...when... _this_ happened...So I figured you’re probably hungry? This was our last call of the day, and I was gonna grab lunch after anyways. It would be nice to have company?”

Dave bit his lip. Klaus squinted at him, but a mischievous smile crept onto his lips. 

“David! If I knew any better I’d say that you were asking me on a date!”

Dave nearly choked, “ _What!?_ No! No, that's not what I–”

“Oh Davey, I would never say no to your beautiful face.”

Dave could feel his heart beating out of his chest and butterflies dancing around in his stomach. 

_Davey?!_

He couldn’t even form words. 

Klaus simply grabbed Dave’s hand, wiggled his eyebrows, and said, “Let’s roll.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay!! this is the first fanfic that i have EVER written so sorry if it sucks lmao! I also don't know anything about firefighter procedure so I'm sure everything involving that was wrong...rip. Ill try to update soon but i would love to hear what yall think in the meantime! Thanks for reading!


	2. take me out to the ball game

The ride back to the station was a quick one, with Klaus happily chatting with Dave and his coworkers. They were showing him what all of the buttons and switches on the control panel do when they pulled in and parked. Dave watched as Klaus leapt out of the firetruck and twirled around to look at him. 

“ _So_ , Dave, where to?”

“Well, I have to change into normal clothes first, but then we can go wherever you want.”

Klaus pouted his lips and said, “Aww, no more fireman getup?”

Dave chuckled, “No, sadly it’s a bit too hot out to be walking around in this thing. Speaking of which, I have no clue how you aren’t dying right now in those skinny jeans.”

Klaus gasped and put his hand on his chest, mock scandalized, “ _Dave!_ They complete my look! And besides, I had a really cute flowy black skirt that would have gone _great_ with this top, but I lost it like a week ago. It’s a sore subject.”

Dave flushed and tried not to think too hard about how cute Klaus would look in his glittery purple crop top and a _skirt_ as he walked towards the locker room to go change. Klaus was waiting outside to give him some privacy and Dave was able to reflect on how crazy this all was.

He had asked a stranger out on a date after only meeting him 20 minutes earlier. And not just any stranger, no, he had asked _Klaus Hargreeves_ out on a date, and he had said _yes_. 

Did this qualify as a date though? Probably not, Dave thought disappointedly. Dave’s too plain for a guy like Klaus. Beautiful, wild and free Klaus would find a guy like Dave boring. 

And besides, Dave had _just_ met Klaus. There was no way that he was already getting feelings for him. Just because Dave thinks that Klaus is stunning, kind, brave, funny, incredible, the most fascinating person he has ever met...

Nope! Didn’t mean anything. This was just two guys getting lunch together. Completely platonic. Dave would just try to ignore the butterflies he felt every time he looked at Klaus.

He changed into a pair of khaki shorts and a blue button up. He walked out of the room and began looking around when he didn’t immediately see Klaus outside.

“Over here, Davey!”

He looked over to see Klaus standing near the fireman’s pole.

“Check this out!”

Klaus grabbed the pole and attempted to swing himself around it, but immediately lost his grip and flung off with a yelp. He hit the ground and erupted into a fit of giggles. 

Dave burst out laughing. He walked over and knelt down beside him, managing to ask between gasps, “Are you alright?”

He smiled up at Dave, “Never been better! Love the outfit by the way,” he began to fiddle with Dave’s shirt collar. “It gives you a suburban dad look. But like, sexy, y’know? Like a DILF.”

He winked and Dave had no idea how to respond, “Uh, thanks?”

He held out his hand to Klaus, who grasped it tight, and pulled him up.

“Ready to go?”

Klaus nodded. They linked arms and started walking.

They ended up going to a Chinese restaurant, one that Klaus assured was ‘the finest establishment in the city’. They got a table in the back and sat down. Dave grinned as Klaus complimented the waitress’s shoes. 

Klaus propped his hands under his chin and drummed his fingers on his cheeks. He was watching Dave with an unreadable expression, and Dave tried not to get lost in his breathtaking green eyes.

“So,” Klaus said, “tell me about yourself, Dave-O.”

Dave laughed at the nickname, “Well, there’s not too much to say. I’m a firefighter, obviously, and,” he paused, trying to think of anything interesting to say, “uh, I don’t know...I actually just recently moved to New York? I’m originally from Kansas City.”

Klaus’ eyes lit up at that, “Oooo, a midwestern boy, huh? Is that why you’re so charming?”

“Well I don’t know about _that_.” Dave said, face flushing, "I’ve been here for about eight months now but I still feel like I just got here.”

“Hmm, so that’s why you wanted to take me to that restaurant on 11th St! Overpriced, garbage food. I think it is now my job to be your own personal tour guide of NYC. I know all of this city’s secrets.”

“I definitely need that.”

Klaus looked at him wistfully, “So Dave, what else? Got any family? Siblings? Hobbies? I’m dying to know more about the life of Dave Katz”

“I have one sibling, an older sister. She is three years older than me. She just got married recently, which was very exciting. We are pretty close.”

Klaus hummed, “That sounds nice. I have a lot of siblings, but we don’t really talk much anymore. Today was the first time I saw Vanya in almost a year. Things got awkward after…”

“After her book.” Dave filled in.

Klaus grimaced, “You recognized her?”

Dave looked down, “Yeah, it’s hard not to when her face is on posters all over the city.”

A beat.

“We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I honestly wouldn’t have read the book if I had known that it was going to be so…”

“Depressing?”

“I was going to say invasive.”

Klaus snorted, “Well, yeah, it was definitely that too.” He sighed, “You know, she totally got some of that stuff _all_ wrong. I don’t think she actually knew what was going on in that house. If she had, she wouldn’t have wanted powers so badly.”

Dave reached over and grabbed his hand comfortingly, “I’m sorry that all of that happened.”

“It’s alright. It wasn’t your fault.”

Dave squeezed his hand and he squeezed back.

Their moment was interrupted by their food arriving. Klaus immediately started to wolf his down like he hadn’t eaten in days. Maybe he hadn’t. Dave frowned. 

_Say something so you don’t get sad. Say something so you don’t get sad. Say–_

“Hey, you know, I actually know your brother Diego.”

Klaus looked up at him and said with a mouthful of food, “You’re friends with Diego?”

“Well, not exactly friends, uh, more like acquaintances? We know each other. I’ve talked to him a few times at our softball games and–”

“Wait, wait, wait, Diego’s on a _softball team?!_ ”

Dave laughed and said, “Well, sorta. We have a team for our fire department and the cops have a team for their precinct. It’s kinda a big rivalry...Anyways, Diego isn’t allowed to go to bat anymore after we realized that he was using his powers when he went to hit. And before that happened, he _pitched_ a game. I swear, that nearly turned into a full blown brawl before the first inning was through. So he is not really allowed to do much. But yes, he is on a softball team. Actually, I think we play them tonight…”

Klaus stared wide eyed for a moment. 

“You have a game tonight.”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Can I come watch?”

Now it was Dave’s turn to stare wide eyed.

“You want to come?”

Klaus rolled his eyes, “Well, duh! That sounds incredible! I get to bother Diego, hang out with you some more, and probably see Eudora Patch while I’m there! Have you met Patch? She is a doll, you would totally love her.”

“Oh, yeah, she’s great!” 

_Be cool, Dave. Be cool._

“Well, uh, there’s only a few hours until the game. Do you-” Dave cleared his throat, “do you want to hang out ‘til then? With me, I mean. Um, I have to go back to my apartment for a bit, but you could come with me if you want?” Klaus was looking at him and Dave quickly re-thought what he had said, “Not in like a sexual way or anything! Gosh, sorry, I made that sound weird! I just have to go back to feed my cat and get ready for the game but that won’t take long, and then we could do whatever! I mean, only if you want to! We don’t have to hang out at all if you don’t want to, but I just-”

“Katz has a cat, huh?”

Dave was out of breath from his rambling and completely confused by whatever the fuck Klaus had just said.

“What?”

“Katz has a cat. It’s funny because your name kinda sounds like cat. Katz cat, Katz cats. See!”

…

“Well, I obviously have to meet Katz’s cat! Of course I’ll come!”

Dave released a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

They continued eating. Dave loved to watch Klaus talk. His eyes would alight with every story he told. He would wave his hands around theatrically, **hello** and **goodbye** drawing Dave in to the tale. Time didn’t seem to exist when he was around Klaus, and he didn’t notice the hours pass by until he checked his watch and–

“Oh, shit! Klaus, we gotta go if we wanna make it to the game on time!”

 

Dave unlocked the door to his apartment and they went inside. It wasn’t the nicest apartment, but Dave was happy with it. It opened up to a small living room and a kitchen to the right. Potted plants hung from the ceiling and there were multiple fluffy blankets on his couch. He liked to keep his place as cozy as possible. To the left, there was a door leading to his bedroom. 

Klaus was looking around, taking it all in, when Dave’s cat ran towards them.

“Kitty, kitty, kitty!” Klaus squealed and ran towards the cat. She immediately started brushing against his legs. Klaus dropped down and started petting her. Dave smiled fondly.

“I think she likes you.”

Klaus gasped as she rolled onto her back and purred while he continued to stroke her “What’s her name?” he cooed.

Dave smiled wider, knowing that Klaus was going to love this, “Her name is Lettuce.”

Klaus made an _extremely_ excited noise at that, “ _Dave!_ You named your cat _Lettuce!_ That is the best thing I have ever heard!”

Dave shrugged, trying to suppress his grin, “When I first got her, I didn’t know what to name her. Nothing felt right. But she was absolutely obsessed with lettuce, like, I had to stop her from eating so much so she wouldn’t get sick, and she would get _so_ mad. So I just started to call her Lettuce Head. I shortened it down to Lettuce later on, but I think it suits her.”

“Lettuce Katz,” Klaus whispered in an awed tone, “the perfect name for the perfect cat.”

Dave smiled wide as he refilled her water bowl and put out some food for her. He left Klaus to continue petting his cat so he could go get dressed for the game. Their team uniform was just a red t-shirt with their team name on it, plus athletic shorts. He grabbed his mit and walked back to the living room.

“Ready?”

“Let’s roll.”

 

They made it to the park where the softball field was and Klaus gasped as a black car pulled up into the parking lot. He grabbed Dave’s arm excitedly and said, “ _Oh my god_ , that’s Diego’s car! We totally have to scare him!”

“Uh, I don’t know if I shou–”

Klaus grabbed his hand, “Let’s go!”

He led Dave over to hide in some bushes by the car. Diego got out of the car and started walking towards the field. Klaus turned to wink at Dave, then started to sprint at Diego. He screamed, “SURPRISE ATTACK!” and jumped onto Diego’s back, who immediately threw Klaus onto the ground and pulled out a knife before realizing who it was. Dave jumped out of the hiding spot to go over to them.

“Klaus?” He looked absolutely bewildered to see his brother, “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Klaus looked up from his spot on the ground, “Jeez, Diego! That really hurt!”

Diego was at a loss for words as Klaus got up and patted his shoulder, “Brother dear, I am here for the love of the sport. I got out of bed and yelled out to the universe, ‘take me out to the ball game!’, and boy did the universe answer my call.”

Diego still looked absolutely flabbergasted, “What? That doesn’t even–” he pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. “Have you been hanging out with Eudora again?”

“You know, I haven’t seen her in awhile. Is she here? We need to catch up!”

“What? That's not what I–” he cut himself off with another huff, “I meant, how did you know about this?”

“OH! Well my friend, Davey, here told me about it!” He grabbed Dave’s waist and pulled him so that they were hip to hip. Diego immediately turned his glare to Dave.

“Um, hi.” Dave shifted awkwardly. Diego squinted, eyes shifting between the two of them.

“How do you know Dave?”

“Dave is basically Superman. There I was, all alone, hopeless in my time of need, when all of the sudden, who appears but this beautiful, rugged knight in shining armor. Dave swept me in his arms and we rode off into the sunset. It was like something out of a fairytale.”

Dave felt himself blushing as he translated, “He was in an apartment fire that I was called to.”

“You were in a _fire?!_ What the hell, Klaus! Are you alright?” He then began to look Klaus over like he was checking for injuries before Klaus swatted him away.

“I’m _fine!_ Like I said, Dave,“ He squeezed Dave at that, “rescued me!”

Diego looked back to Dave and was about to say something when Klaus yelled, “PATCH!”

Patch was walking up and turned when she heard her name. She smiled as Klaus ran to her and pulled her into a bear hug. Dave and Diego both smiled fondly.

“Klaus, what are you doing here?” She laughed.

Klaus let go, “The game, silly! I’m here to watch the game!” He then began gushing over her hair, asking her about her love life (‘You are still dating my dumbass brother, right?” “Unfortunately.”), and telling her some wild story involving a squirrel, a soda can and a plastic fork.

As they caught up, Diego turned to Dave.

“Dave.”

“Yeah?”

“Walk with me.”

“Oh, uh, okay.” Dave had never really talked much with Diego before. It’s not that he didn’t like Diego, it’s just that Dave always found him a bit intimidating. Diego didn’t exactly chat with people, and he was standoff-ish with everyone except Eudora. 

They walked down a path that looped through the park. Diego began to twirl a knife around in his hands.

“So, _Dave_ , what _exactly_ are you doing with my brother?” 

Dave swallowed.

“Um, what do you mean?”

“I _mean_ , what are your intentions with him?”

“My intentions? Uh, I don’t really have any intentions or anything...we’ve just been hanging out and–”

“Do you do drugs now or something, huh?”

Dave almost laughed, “ _What?_ No!”

“Then why are you hanging out with him? Are you trying to take advantage of him? I swear to God Dave I’ll–”

“No! Jesus Diego, I just like spending time with him, that’s all. He’s funny...and sweet…”

Diego stopped twirling his knife and turned to look at Dave. His glare softened for just a moment, so quickly that Dave almost missed it, before he said, “Alright, fine. You’ve always seemed like a nice guy, and it’s obvious that Klaus likes you. But I’m only going to say this once: if you _ever_ do _anything_ to hurt my brother, I want you to know I will find out and I will make you regret it.”

Dave didn’t know what to say to that, so he awkwardly stuttered out, “Yes, sir.”

Diego smirked a bit, seemingly impressed with his own intimidation speech, and they kept walking to get back to everyone.

Dave kept thinking of one thing that Diego had said during all of that. _It’s obvious that Klaus likes you._

Was it obvious? Did Klaus like him? If he did, it definitely wasn’t obvious. Klaus wouldn’t be into a guy like Dave. Diego must have been reading things wrong. Dave kicked a rock.

It was exciting to think about though. Dave imagined what it would be like to date Klaus. To get flowers and give them to him just to see him smile. To take him to the movies, the zoo, the mall, _anywhere_ just so he could see Klaus’ beautiful eyes light up when he sees something he loves. To buy a beautiful ring and get down on one knee and look into those same green eyes as he says, _‘Will you marry me’._

_Woah! Dave, calm down. Please chill. You just met him today. You don’t even know if he likes you. RELAX._

His thoughts were becoming a whirlwind but he was jolted out of them when they joined the others. He saw Klaus talking with Bonnie, Clark and Rob, all of which seemed thoroughly delighted to see him again. He went over to them as Diego went to Eudora. They all laughed and got ready to play.

 

As the game started, Klaus settled on the benches around the field. Anytime Dave would go up to bat, he would try to keep his nerves down as he heard Klaus cheering as loud as humanly possible. Things like “WOOOO! YOU HIT THAT BALL! YEAH!” 

Whenever Diego would touch the ball, they could hear Klaus booing teasingly and yelling, “OINK OINK, BITCH”. Diego would roll his eyes and flip him off, and Klaus would giggle and stick his tongue out back at him. 

Klaus would also cheer whenever Patch or any members of the fire department did anything at all. Dave was surprised he hadn’t lost his voice by the end of it. The game ended 4-2 with the fire department in the lead. Klaus whooped and gave Dave a big hug.

Both teams all hung out in the park after the game. It was tradition that they both brought food and had a picnic afterwards. Dave noticed that Klaus seemed to get jittery as the night went on, but didn’t think much of it as he still looked like he was having fun. Klaus told everyone embarrassing stories about Diego as a kid and they all laughed (except for Diego, who scowled and lightly punched him in the arm) and had a good time. 

After awhile, the crowd started thinning and people started heading home. Diego and Patch left together after giving Klaus a big hug and Dave a smile. 

A little after that, Dave decided it was time for him to start saying his goodbyes. He looked around and realized that Klaus wasn’t near him. He looked around more and his confusion turned into worry. What if something bad happened to him, maybe someone kidnapped him when they weren’t looking!

Dave needs to relax. Klaus probably just got tired and left. Would he really just leave without saying goodbye, though? 

He spotted him, walking out of the park, digging through his pockets. Dave started walking towards him, trying to catch up. Klaus pulled something out of his pocket and was bringing it up to his mouth.

“Hey, Klaus, wait up!”

Klaus froze, shoulders hiking up, then quickly shoved whatever was in his hand into his mouth and swallowed. He then swirled around with a wide smile on his face.

“Dave,” his voice was a pitch too high to be casual, “what’s crack-a-lackin?”

“Uh, nothing.” Dave didn’t know if he should bring up the fact that he just saw Klaus take some kind of pill or not, “Are you leaving already?”

Klaus tilted his head, “Well, you know how it is. Everyone was having lots of fun and I didn’t want to ruin the vibes with my farewells so…”

“Oh.”

Klaus wanted to leave it seems. Maybe he just wanted to go so he could take whatever pills he just had without anyone here judging–or arresting– him. Dave thought back to Klaus this morning saying that he would have ‘night time activities’ to do to make money, and Dave worried that that’s what he was about to go do. Whatever that meant, it couldn’t be too safe, and all Dave wanted to do was wrap Klaus up and make sure nothing bad _ever_ happened to him. He couldn’t control him though. This was his own life and he could make whatever choices he wanted to make. Dave couldn’t do anything about that. But maybe if Dave offered to help somehow, he would see that he doesn’t have to do it on his own. 

“Hey, listen, I don’t know what you are about to do, but if it’s about trying to get money to fix Vanya’s apartment, maybe I could help? I don’t exactly have a ton of money to loan, but I could help you come up with ideas on how to get some? Or help you apply to part-time jobs around the city? Clark’s sister owns a cafe on 6th street, and they are always looking to hire people, I could talk to him for you?”

Klaus smiled sadly, “Thanks Dave, but I’m not exactly the ideal applicant. And besides, you’ve already been too nice to me as it is.”

_Too nice?_

“Klaus, there is no such thing as treating a person ‘too nice’. I’ve had a great time hanging out with you and I just want to help.”

Klaus looked at the ground and didn’t say anything.

“Okay, well at least stay at my place tonight? I just want to make sure you’re safe.”

Klaus had a confused smile on his face, “You know you don’t have to do stuff like this just because you feel bad for me, right? I’ll be fine on my own.”

Dave felt a pang in his chest, “I’m not doing this because I feel bad for you, I’m doing it because I care about you.”

Klaus blinked. He opened his mouth then closed it again, then swallowed thickly.

“Okay,” he said softly.

And together, they headed back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> diego and eudora are hereeeeee yeaa! when i wrote ch 1, i literally had no plan for how i wanted this story to go and i only mentioned that dave was on a softball team for a dumb joke that wasnt even funny but now that im writing more im making major plot points revolve around this team aslkjdfjaklsf ANYWAYS!! hope you enjoyed! thanks for reading!


	3. sleepover

They didn’t talk much on the way back to Dave’s apartment. Dave figured whatever Klaus took must have started to kick in because he kept losing his balance and couldn’t walk in a straight line. Dave put his arm around him to steady him as they went. Klaus leaned into it heavily and giggled up at him. Dave ignored it. He didn’t want to focus on the fact that Klaus was high as a kite right now. He didn’t want to think about the fact that Klaus is so out of it that he probably forgot where they were going. He doesn’t want to think about how he is probably like this more often than not.

 

They made it back and Dave unlocked his front door. Klaus clumsily bounced inside with a slurred, “Thank you, sir.” 

Dave led him to his bedroom and said, “You can sleep on the bed in here. Do you need anything? I’ll get you some water.”

He quickly went to fill a glass of water. How can he help Klaus sober up? He figured it was different than trying to sober up after getting drunk. Pills are serious business; business that Dave had never had to worry about before. He wanted Klaus to feel okay though. Do you get hungover from pills? Probably not...but you’d have to feel something when you’re coming down, right? He would have to look into it later. All he could do now was help Klaus get a good night’s sleep.

He came back to his room. Klaus was swaying on his feet as he stood by the bed, so Dave decided to just put the glass on the nightstand. He grabbed a pillow for himself out of the closet. He turned to Klaus awkwardly.

“Okay, I think I’m gonna go to bed now. Do you need anything else?”

Klaus blinked, “Where are you going to sleep?”

“Oh, well, I was going to sleep on the couch in the living room.”

Klaus looked at him incredulously, then slurred out, “What, why? I’m not kicking you out of your own bed, Dave. I can sleep on the couch.”

Dave shook his head softly, “No, you’re my guest. I want to make sure you’re comfortable.”

Klaus snorted, “It’s not like I’ve never slept on someone’s couch before, I’ll be fine. You should get in here.”

Dave didn’t move. It would be rude to make Klaus sleep on the couch. He wanted him to be comfortable. His couch was cozy, sure, but Klaus deserved to be snuggled up in a nice warm bed. It felt awkward to push the issue further though. He looked at Klaus and saw the man look at seemingly nothing beside him, then smile slowly and turn back to Dave.

“I have an idea. We should both sleep in the bed.”

Dave felt his face heat up. 

“Oh, would– I uh– Are you sure?”

“Yup. It’s a big bed and I’m skinny so I won’t be up in your space or anything.” He looked at the space next to him again and nodded as if someone was telling him something, “A compromise! That’s it!”

Klaus grinned and Dave nodded, “Okay.”

“Yay!” Klaus whooped and sleepily flopped onto the bed. He quickly squirmed until he was wrapped under the covers and cozy. He hummed contentedly and let his eyes close. He looked so adorable. Dave smiled. 

He quickly changed into his pajamas and wondered if he should offer some to Klaus, but the man appeared to be asleep already. How anyone could sleep in skinny jeans, Dave would never know. He should have offered some pajamas to him. Dave sighed at his thoughtlessness and sat on the bed. He reached over to turn off his lamp when he heard a small voice next to him.

“Could you...could you leave the lamp on?”

Not so asleep after all. 

“You want it on?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure.”

As Dave laid down and closed his eyes, he heard Klaus whisper a small, “Thanks.” He felt content as he drifted off to sleep.

 

When Dave woke up, he felt something on his chest. He looked down and was met with a face full of fluffy curly hair. He felt his heart rate pick up as he realized that Klaus was lying with his head on his chest. He had one arm wrapped around his side and their legs were intertwined together. Dave realized with a flush that he had also wrapped his arms around Klaus in the night.

Oh jeez. What should he do? He couldn’t move, that would wake Klaus up. And honestly? He didn’t really want to get up. He would lay in this bed for the rest of his life if it meant he could keep snuggling with Klaus. 

He heard Klaus groan sleepily and start to stir. Oh God, what should Dave do? Would Klaus think he was a weirdo for just laying awake underneath him? Should he pretend he was asleep?  
Klaus groaned again and Dave quickly shut his eyes and tried to calm his heart rate. He felt Klaus’ head lift off his chest and heard a soft, “Oh.” 

There was a pause, with Klaus seemingly taking in the situation. His head then settled back onto Dave’s chest with a content hum. Dave tried not to smile as Klaus nuzzled into him. 

The moment only lasted a few seconds, until Klaus flinched and hissed in a startled voice, “ _Jesus Christ!_ You almost scared me to death!”

Dave almost opened his eyes at that. Was there someone in his apartment? Nobody responded, but Klaus snorted anyways, like the air had made a joke. Could he be talking to a ghost? That made him uneasy. Was his apartment haunted? Dave made a mental not to get sage. He had read online once that it can get rid of ghosts. Although, Dave supposed that the only person who would know for sure if that worked would be Klaus…

Dave felt Klaus lift his head and turn to look at him. He wondered if he should ‘wake up’ now, but he felt it would be awkward to do that while Klaus was talking to someone. Klaus shifted again to look to the side.

“No he’s not.”

A pause.

“Well maybe he did, but he’s not now! Don’t you have anything better to do than watch us sleep?”

...

“There’s _loads_ of things you could do! _Oh!_ I know! You could play with Lettuce the cat!”

Dave felt like he was eavesdropping at this point. Is it considered eavesdropping if you can only hear half of the conversation? Probably.

...

“Well, _yeah_ , I know _that_. But don’t cats have a sixth sense or something? I feel like cats and dogs do...like, I saw that in a movie or something. So you could just chase her around and haunt her or whatever. That could be fun”

...

“Well how on earth was I supposed to know that!”

...

Klaus laughed again, “Oh, yeah, guess I would have noticed that. In my defense, I don’t exactly hang out with animals that often.”

...

Klaus blew a raspberry, “Whatever. Go away, I’m snuggling with Dave.”

...

Klaus laid his head down gently and hummed, “Thanks. He is pretty great, isn’t he?”

Huh? Did Klaus mean that _he_ was great? He wished he could hear the other side of the conversation.

...

He sighed, “I don’t know...He’s... _amazing_. And I don’t want him to have to deal with me.”

 _Deal with him?_ Dave wasn’t _dealing with him_. He liked spending time with him. How could Klaus think otherwise?

...

“I doubt that. I literally barred out last night and he had to take care of my stupid ass. He’s so good...it was honestly selfish of me to come.”

_No!_

...

He snorted and said sarcastically, “Whatever you say, Ben.”

Dave couldn’t understand why Klaus could think so low of himself. Yeah, he may be a drug addict, but he’s also kind and funny and absolutely amazing. He was so out of Dave’s league. He just wished Klaus knew how incredible he really was. 

He was so deep in his internal defense of Klaus that he almost missed the last part.

Ben? As in Ben Hargreeves? As in _otherworldly-tentacle-creature-powers_ Ben? As in _died-in-a-horrific-accident_ Ben?

Dave supposed it made sense. If he died and had a brother who could see the dead, he guessed he would stick around to hang out. Has he been here the whole time? Oh God, he probably saw Dave wake up and then pretend to be asleep. Was that what they were talking about at first? Oh no.

There had been a long silence, so Dave figured their conversation was over. He didn’t think Klaus was asleep, but he was still laying on his chest. He figured it was as good of a time as any to pretend to wake up. He groaned convincingly and started to stir. He allowed his eyes to flutter open as he felt Klaus quickly untangle himself from him.

“Good morning, sunshine!”

Dave chuckled, but wished he could hear that greeting every morning for the rest of his life.

“Hey, how’d you sleep?”

“Like a log!”

Klaus’ hair was sticking out all over the place and it made Dave smile.

“You hungry? I love making a big breakfast in the morning.”

Klaus raised his eyebrows, “Really? That sounds awesome!”

Dave’s face lit up, “Great, I’ll get cooking!”

He stood up and went to the kitchen. He looked in his fridge excitedly. He loved cooking so much, but he never really had anyone to cook for other than himself. He had to make a feast now that he had company. He picked out eggs, fruit, and all of the ingredients to make pancakes. He also decided to grab chocolate chips and whipped cream, thinking that Klaus would love those with his pancakes. 

He then put on his cooking apron. He smiled as he looked it over. It was a tye-dye apron with the words “Now Watch Me Whip!” with a whisk underneath on it. He had found it at a thrift store for $2 and it always makes him chuckle. 

“Hey, do you mind if I use your shower?” Klaus asked, emerging from the room.

“No, not at all!,” Dave responded, not looking up, “There’s extra towels in the closet in my room, and you can borrow some of my clothes if you want.”

There was no response and Dave turned to see Klaus looking at him with wide eyes and a face that was turning red. Dave cocked his head in confusion, which seemed to snap Klaus out of it.

“Yeah! Yeah, yeah, yep, totally. Towels in the closet, clothes in the room. Got it. Yep. Thanks.”

Dave shrugged and continued cooking as Klaus walked away. He then heard his voice ring out across the apartment.

“Actually, would you mind if I took a bath? I _love_ baths and didn’t notice you had one until now.”

Dave smiled, “Of course. Actually…” He trailed off because he remembered he had a bath bomb and stuff for a bubble bath. He went to grab them from under his sink and presented them to Klaus. 

“Here! You can use these if you want!”

Klaus looked at the items in Dave’s hand with eyes that shone with gratitude.

“Dave, you truly are a saint.”

They both smiled at each other. Klaus grabbed the items from Dave’s hands, their fingers brushing for just a moment. Their skin electrifying at the touch. Dave breathed in, then quickly walked out of the bathroom and back into the kitchen. He took a deep breath, then got back to making breakfast.

 

Dave looked up from his cooking when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching. He took a deep breath as he took in the sight of Klaus. His damp hair was curling out in ringlets. He was wearing one of Dave’s old Hawaiian print shirts with most of the top buttons undone, exposing his chest. Klaus was also sporting a pair of horrendous cutoff jorts that somehow looked incredibly stylish on him. Dave had honestly forgotten he owned those and made a mental note to tell Klaus to keep them because he was the only person who could make those look good.They were massive on him, so he paired it with a brown belt. They almost looked high waisted on him. It worked impossibly well. He had to blink out of his thoughts when he heard Klaus speak.

“What’s cookin’, good lookin’?” He said with a lazy grin. Dave cleared his throat.

“Oh, hey, not much. Just finishing breakfast. You hungry?”

“ _Starving_. It looks absolutely scrumptious.” He plucked a strawberry up and popped it into his mouth. The aroma of flowery shampoo wafted from him and Dave tried not to get lost in it.

“Well I’m glad because I made a ton of food.”

They started to get their food. Klaus piled his plate high with pancakes, fruit, chocolate chips, and a river of syrup. Dave smiled wide as he got a good amount of eggs, bacon, and pancakes. They sat down and Klaus literally moaned as he took his first bite.

“This is delicious, Dave, honestly. If you weren’t so sexy as a firefighter, I’d suggest you become a chef.”

Dave smiled bashfully and blushed, “It’s really nothing. Breakfast is pretty hard to mess up.” 

Klaus swallowed a massive bite with a cheesy grin. They sat in comfortable silence for a moment until Klaus sat down his fork and looked at the table.

“Listen, I wanted to say thanks for letting me stay here. I know I was probably being annoying last night and you still let me come over. I’m just...sorry.”

Dave grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight, “Klaus? You don’t have to apologize for anything. I just want you to be safe. You know you can stay here whenever you want, right?”

“Dave...We just met so you probably don’t understand, but if you did, you wouldn’t be saying that right now. Trust me. I know I’m a lot.”

Dave frowned. He thought back to the one-sided conversation he overheard earlier. He had to make Klaus realize that he deserved all of the happiness in the world.

“We may have just met, but I still know that you’re a good person, Klaus. I know that you make me smile. I know that you have the biggest heart of anyone I have ever met. And I know that I wouldn’t have asked you to come if I didn’t want you to. You’re funny and kind and _incredible_. I just wish you could see yourself the way I do.”

Klaus looked like his eyes were going to bulge out of their sockets by the time Dave was done talking. They were still holding hands across the table and Dave looked at them after a few moments to avoid his intense stare. When he looked back up, it looked like Klaus was malfunctioning. He was blinking rapidly and twitching his free hand on the table. He abruptly stood up and announced, “ _I have to go to the bathroom._ ” Then scurried away. 

Dave didn’t know what to think of that. He hoped he didn’t freak Klaus out. He looked down at his half eaten breakfast and prayed that he didn’t mess everything up.

Klaus returned looking much more composed and sat with an airy sigh. He stuffed a massive bite of his pancake into his mouth and said, “ ‘Dis is rearry goo’!”

Dave just laughed and moved on. They continued eating like nothing had happened. Once they were done, Dave picked up their plates and started to rinse them off in the sink. He turned around when he heard Klaus bouncing around behind him. 

“ _So_ , Dave, remember yesterday how you were saying you could help with ideas for me making money to fix Vanya’s place? Well I actually thought of one, totally legal too!...But I would need your help. You can totally say no, because I think it might be a lot of work! Like, I honestly would say no if I was you. And you probably only said you would help just to be nice and I get that so-”

“Klaus.”

“Yeah?”

“What’s the idea?”

“ _Oh!_ Right! So I actually thought of it at your game yesterday, but I didn’t think you would want to...It’s stupid really...But I thought it could be fun to throw a fundraiser-softball-game type of thing. Like, we could do cops vs. firefighters again, but put posters up and have people buy tickets or sell hotdogs or something!”

Dave smiled, “That would be so fun, I love it!”

Klaus smiled hopefully, “Really?”

Dave beamed, “Yes, of course! I’d have to talk to my department, but I’m sure they’d be on board. It’s a great idea!”

“Ooo! We could go by Diego’s apartment too to see if he can talk to all of the cops about it!”

“Sure! I’ll call my buddies about it and then we can head out.”

He called Clark, who was immediately on board and said he would talk to the rest of the gang.

He hung up and Klaus excitedly grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the door and they made their way to Diego’s.

 

Diego apparently lived in the boiler room of a sweaty boxing gym. Dave shouldn’t be surprised. Klaus started banging obnoxiously on the door and yelling in a singsong voice, “DIEEEEEGOOOOOOOOOOO!”

After several moments of this, commotion was heard on the other side of the door. Stomping footsteps were approaching and then, “Klaus, I swear to God-”

The door swung open and Diego appeared, seeming very disheveled. His eyes looked bleary, he had major bed head, and was only wearing boxers. He looked Klaus up and down.

“What the fuck are you wearing?”

Klaus struck a pose, “It’s called fashion, babe, look it up. Also, it’s pretty bold of you to criticise my look when it looks like you just got out of hibernation.”

Diego grunted and then turned to look at Dave and squinted suspiciously, but didn’t say anything.

“Give me one second.”

He shut the door quickly. Dave and Klaus both shared a look and shrugged. They heard voices muffled by the door. After a few minutes, Diego opened the door again, this time fully clothed with Eudora under his arm. She smiled brightly when she looked at them. Klaus chuckled.

“Ohhhhh, I get it. You looked like shit because you were up late with Patch, huh? You dirty dog.”

Diego rolled his eyes, but had to suppress a smirk as he said, “You’re so annoying.”

Klaus grinned, “I try. Can we come in? We have a big scheme to discuss!”

“I’m genuinely afraid to find out what that means.”

“Come _on!_ It’s gonna be so much fun!”

Diego opened the door further and gestured for them to enter as he said, “ _Fine_. But if this is anything like your plan to seduce Chris Hemsworth, I’m not listening.”

Klaus scoffed as he sauntered in, holding Dave’s hand as he went, “First of all, I totally could have pulled that off. Second of all, this is actually a feasible, family friendly idea.”

Eudora laughed, “I honestly would have loved to watch the Hemsworth thing go down, but I’m all ears for whatever you’ve got to say.”

They all settled in to some chairs that were scattered around Diego’s apartment and Klaus began to speak.

“Okay, so you know how I said that I was in a bit of a fire and that beautiful Davey here saved my life?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“ _Well_ , it was actually Vanya’s apartment…”

Diego stood, “ _What?!_ Is she alright?”

Klaus raised his hands, “Yes, yes she’s fine! She wasn’t even there when it happened, but the thing is: I totally ruined her kitchen and I want to find a way to make it up to her. I had some ideas, but Dave convinced me that I should keep things legal, which I’m sure you’d appreciate. That’s when I thought of the best idea ever! A fundraiser softball game! Cops vs. firefighters! We could sell burgers and hotdogs and have music! Fun festivities all around! It would be a blast! What do you say?”

“I...that sounds great, Klaus. But…”

“But…?”

“But why do you think you owe Vanya anything? She literally wrote a book _trashing_ us all. I’m sure whatever money she made from _that_ is enough.”

Klaus considered this, then said, “Maybe. But I still messed up and want to make it up to her. She’s still our sister. I still care about her and I know you do too.”

Diego opened his mouth to respond, but promptly closed it. Patch rubbed circles on his back and said in a soft voice, “I’ve always wanted to meet more of your family. Maybe this will be a chance to finally talk it out with her?”

He pursed his lips and stayed silent for a moment, before settling on, “Okay.”

“Okay?” Klaus asked excitedly.

“Okay, I’m in. But I’m doing this for you, not Vanya.”

Klaus jumped up in excitement and wrapped Diego in a big hug.

“Yay, this is going to be so much fun!”

They all smiled and began to plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Diego: I hate vanya for writing that book  
> Also diego: What!? her place was on fire?! Is she ok!? Is she alright!? I must Protect!!!
> 
> asdfhhasf anyways sorry this took longer than last time. I have had a crazy week PLUS i had a lot of trouble writing this chapter so i hope that doesn't show...lmk what you think! I live for your comments lol  
> Also, if the convo with ben was confusing at all lmk...I wrote a whole conversation but we obviously only hear what klaus says


	4. Break-In at Hargreeves Manor

They made a list of all of the things they needed to do to prepare for the big game. They set the date for June 10, giving them exactly two weeks to prepare. The list ended up looking something like this:

1\. Reserve the park  
2\. posters and fliers  
3\. Food  
4\. Music  
5\. Face paint  
6\. ~~Drinks~~ lemonade  
7\. Chalk and balloons  
8\. ???

Klaus insisted that they get face paint because, “If we advertise that there will be a face painting station, people will be _swarming_ that park. I swear.” They also had to change ‘Drinks’ to ‘Lemonade’ after he mentioned how good margaritas would taste on the hot summer day (“Aww, come on! Who doesn’t love a good marg?” “No.”). 

Klaus continually insisted that he do all of the work. He didn’t want anyone to worry about anything, but they all explained that they wanted to help. It turned into a very heated debate.

In the end, Diego and Patch were in charge of reserving the park, the lemonade, and getting supplies for the posters, fliers, and face paint. Dave and Klaus were in charge of food, music, decorations, designing the posters/fliers, and whatever else Klaus would inevitably want to do. After the deliberation, Klaus exclaimed that he wanted to get started _right away_ , grabbing Dave’s hand and setting off with a “GOODBYE, LOVE BIRDS!”

 

“Okay, so first, I have a plan for the music. It _does_ involve breaking and entering, but it's definitely worth it. We have to make a pit stop first.”

Although Dave wasn’t so sure about becoming a criminal, he would do anything to see Klaus smile. He followed him as he entered a dollar store and made his way to the greetings cards aisle. 

“So, why do we need a card in this scheme?”

Klaus smiled, “You’ll see. Help me pick out a good one.”

They spent almost an hour in that store, picking up silly holiday and birthday cards and reading them aloud to each other. They would laugh at the ones that weren’t funny. It seemed that just being goofy with one another was enough to make them giddy. Klaus eventually picked out a card that said “I Love You From My Head TO-MAH-TOES” with a cartoon of two tomatoes with smiley faces on the front after Dave had held it up and read it with an exaggerated southern accent and they had both laughed for about five minutes. On the inside it simply said “Happy Father’s Day!”

“This is perfect!” Klaus yelled. He then looked around to see if anyone was looking, and quickly stuffed the card in his pants. Dave tried to hide his amazement as Klaus grabbed his hand and yelled, “Let’s run!”

They ran out of the store and didn’t stop until they were three blocks away, despite nobody following them. They were both out of breath, but smiling as they slowed to a stop.

“Ok, so can I finally be in on the plan now?” Dave managed to say when he caught his breath.

“I suppose, since now you’re my partner in crime,” Klaus teased. “So my brother Luther has the all time best taste in music. It was one of the only things we would bond over as kids. Like, he would pick some absolute bangers for this party, so I think we should invite him and put him in charge of music. _However_ , he still lives at home and we can’t have Reginald McDickhead finding out about this. So calling Luther on the phone is out of the question. _I_ think the perfect way to invite him would be through card, but if we send it in the mail, the old man might see it. So we gotta break in and put it in Luther’s room ourselves. What do you think?”

“I’m in.”

Klaus’ smile shone like the sun. They set off to the Hargreeves mansion.

 

As they walked, Dave considered what it would be like to have to break into your childhood home. To not just be able to come home and be with your family. When Dave moved here, sure, he left his family and hometown behind, but his family still loved him and would welcome him at any time. The fact that Klaus couldn’t just walk in and be greeted with loving arms made Dave incredible sad. He reached over and grabbed Klaus’ hand. He didn’t look to see his expression, but felt him squeeze his hand back.

Klaus led Dave to a back alley by the academy. They approached a fire escape.

“You up for a bit of climbing?” Klaus asked with a wink. Dave nodded. He followed Klaus as they climbed up. Klaus stopped when a part of the roof jutted out near the platform they were on.

“Okay, I know this looks dangerous, but we would climb all over the roof all the time when we were kids. His room is just, like, ten feet that way. We totally won’t fall.”

Dave felt his nerves start to rise as he replied dumbly, “Uh, okay.”

Klaus nodded. He climbed over the railing on the fire escape and crawled onto the roof. He continued to crawl further away and Dave took a deep breath. He wasn’t necessarily afraid of heights, that would make his job as a firefighter _very_ difficult, but usually he was on a ladder, or had people below to make sure he wouldn’t die if he fell. This was a bit different. But he didn’t want to back out now, so he took a deep breath and followed Klaus onto the roof. They crawled across part of the roof before Klaus stopped at a window and said over his shoulder.

“Okay this is Luther’s room, we gotta be really quiet.” He slipped open the window and crept inside, with Dave following. Once Dave made it inside and looked around at the model planes on the ceilings and the model rockets on the shelves, he was instantly confused.

“Aren’t you guys the same age?” he asked in a hushed voice.

“Yeah, why?”

“And he still lives here?”

“Yeah?”

“Then what’s with all the…” Dave gestures wildly.

Klaus looked around to see what Dave was talking about, then realization crept onto his face in a smile, “Ohhh, you mean the toy rocket thingies? Yeah, Luther’s just a massive dork. He loves that kind of stuff.”

He let out a fond sigh then said, “Alright, let’s get down to business.”

He pulled out a pen from Luther’s desk and began to write in the card they brought, which was only slightly wrinkled from the journey in Klaus’ pants. He scribbled frantically until he was satisfied, then gave the paper a dramatic kiss. 

“Read this over for me, Davey, and tell me what you think.” He handed the card to Dave with a flourish. Klaus’ handwriting was surprisingly beautiful, with flowy cursive letters twirling about the page. Dave supposed he shouldn’t be surprised, the handwriting was just as whimsical as the man who wrote it. He began to read.

_My Dearest Luther,_  
_Hello brother dear! I wanted to invite you to a softball game celebration that I’m putting together! Did you know Diego plays softball? Ha! It's a party I’m putting on for Vanya because I accidentally started a huge fire at her apartment. OOPS! Anyways, I would love for you to come and be our DJ for the night and bust out some bumpin tunes. June 10th at Star Park. Be there or be square_.  
_Sincerely with all my heart_ ,  
_Klaus_  
_(P.S. don’t tell dad LOL)_

Dave’s smile grew wider and wider as he kept reading the letter. “It’s great, Klaus.”

Klaus beamed, took the card and put it on Luther’s desk. He then turned and stroked his beard, “Hmmm, well this was significantly easier than I thought it would be...wanna check out my room?”

Dave instantly blurted, “Yes!” and Klaus gave a toothy grin.

“Okay, but we have to be _really_ stealthy. Follow my lead.”

He slowly creaked the door open and peeked out to see if anyone was on the other side. He opened it more, turned to Dave, and gave a quick nod before somersaulting into the hall.

“Uh,” Dave didn’t really know how to somersault, but he could try. He attempted to roll forward, but ended up flopping clumsily on his back with a thud. Klaus turned and shushed him,

“This is a covert operation, _Davey!_ Get your head in the game!” 

They continued down the hall until Klaus winked and turned into a room. Dave followed in and stood in awe. It was just so _Klaus_. There was writing and drawings covering the walls alongside posters and fairy lights. The decor perfectly matched Klaus’ goth-hippie vibe, with bohemian style pillows and bean bags strewn about, a tea set sitting on a little table in the corner, and even a lava lamp by his bed. Everything just captured his essence, from the clothes thrown all over the floor to the bong on his bedside table. It made Dave feel warm and happy.

“Welcome to my humble abode,” Klaus said, swirling around with a smile. “Wow, it’s exactly how I left it…”

“It’s amazing,” Dave said, awed.

Klaus looked at him with the same dazzling smile, “Thanks. Well, I guess I’ll grab some of my stuff to take with me. I didn’t really have the chance when I left.”

Dave turned to examine the writing on the wall while Klaus opened his wardrobe with a gasp.

“Oh. My. God. I forgot about this!” 

Dave turned around and immediately started choking on his breath. Klaus was holding up a dark green, satin dress. Dave would have a heart attack on the spot if he imagined what Klaus would look like wearing it. The man was rubbing his hands on the fabric happily when he looked up at Dave. 

“You alright?”

“I’m f-fine,” Dave managed to wheeze out. Klaus smirked.

“Oh, I’m definitely taking this with me.” He threw the dress onto the floor by his feet. “Hmmm, what else.” He continued digging through the closet, yanking out his favorites and putting them in the pile on the ground. He looked around the room for more. He stopped at his desk, which was completely covered in makeup. He smiled.

“Time for a touch up!” He plucked some eyeliner from the pile and began to apply it to his eyelids. Dave watched, fascinated. Klaus then picked up an eyeshadow pallette and examined the colors. 

“Oh, these colors would be stunning with your eyes.” Klaus mumbled almost to himself. Dave sat forward, intrigued.

“Really?”

“Umm, _yes!_ Pinks make blue eyes absolutely pop!” 

Dave thought for a moment, before he bit his lip. Klaus was still absentmindedly applying his own makeup, and Dave didn’t want to interrupt, but he had to ask, “Well...do you think...would you want to do my makeup?”

Klaus’ head instantly whipped in Dave’s direction. He searched Dave’s face with wide eyes and asked excitedly, “Seriously?”

Dave smiled and nodded. Klaus cheered and instantly threw down the makeup in his hands. 

“ _Oh!_ This is so exciting! Okay, okay, let’s see…” He trailed off as he examined his pile of makeup, looking for the perfect product. He ended up settling on the eyeshadow palette that he was looking at earlier. He picked up a brush and turned to Dave.

“Okay, close your eyes, pretty boy.”

Dave smiled and did as he was told. He felt Klaus bring a hand up to his face, gently resting it on his cheek as he applied the shadow to Dave’s eyelid. He tried to keep his heart rate under control at the touch. This was much more intimate than Dave was expecting it to be. It made him feel warm. He felt Klaus’ breath lightly brush his face and felt butterflies in his chest.

Klaus breathed out a laugh, “Dave! Stop twitching!”

“I’m not twitching!”

“Are too! Your eyeball twitches every time I apply something to it!”

Dave smiled, “Sorry doll, I’ve never done this before.”

He felt Klaus’ hand stiffen at that. Dave squinted his eyes open only to see Klaus frozen, blinking rapidly. Dave cocked his head in confusion. Klaus looked at him and nodded like he was finally processing what Dave had said.

“Right, you’ve never done this before, right, okay, right...Wait...you’ve never had your makeup done before? I thought you had a sister?”

“Yeah, I do but we never played dress-up or anything like that.”

“You’ve never played dress-up!?”

Dave laughed and shook his head.

“Okay, that changes today. I’m going to finish your makeup and then we are going to have a little fashion show.”

Dave couldn’t be happier. He closed his eyes again and let Klaus work. He would hum while his hands would gently flutter around Dave’s face. He would try not to shiver every time he felt Klaus’ breath brush softly against his cheek or feel Klaus’ hands gently touch his face.

“Okay, all done! You can open your eyes now!”

Dave opened his eyes to see Klaus nearly vibrating with excitement. 

“Oh! Wait, let me get a mirror!” Klaus screeched and scrambled across the room to grab a small mirror. He handed it to Dave, who stood and stared shocked at his own reflection. Klaus did an absolutely incredible job. Dave looked...magical. His eyes were adorned with beautiful pink hues and golden glitter topping it all off. He had a rosey blush to his cheeks and a soft pink tint to his lips. His face sparkled in the sunlight and Dave couldn’t help but think that he looked like a fairy from an fairytale. His heart swelled with joy.

“Wow, Klaus, this is amazing.” His voice was soft in awe and Klaus’ smile shone brighter than the sun.

“You really think so?”

“Yes, this is incredible, Klaus. Thank you.”

Klaus stepped forward and grabbed Dave’s hand. He looked almost...shy. He bit his lip and said, “Well, it wasn’t exactly hard. I mean, you’re already so beautiful…”

Dave felt a jolt of electricity go straight to his heart. He inched forward as Klaus looked him in the eye.

“Oh, I don’t know about that.”

“It’s true.” Klaus breathed out.

Dave inched closer again and said quietly, “Well, that’s coming from the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen.”

Klaus’ eyes made their way to Dave’s lips and he leaned forward even further and breathed out, “ _Dave_...”

Dave raised a hand and tenderly brushed Klaus’ cheek as he also leaned in. Klaus closed his eyes and their lips were about to connect when-

Klaus suddenly went stiff as a board and his eyes went wide. Dave flinched at the quick change in tone.

“Someone’s coming.” Klaus whispered, still frozen,

Dave didn’t hear anything, but didn’t question it.

“Should we hide?” 

Klaus opened his mouth to respond, when the sound of heels clicking was heard approaching. Klaus seemed to relax at that and said, “Oh, thank God, I think it’s just my mom.”

Dave tried to shake the feeling of whiplash as the door opened and a beautiful blonde woman with a large smile painted on her face stepped in. She was dressed like a pristine 1950s housewife. She froze when she took in the scene in front of her. She blinked, looked at Klaus, and her smile grew more genuine.

“Why, I thought I heard my little bumblebee buzzing around! Hello, Klaus!”

Klaus smiled and moved forward to hug her, “Hey mom. How’ve ya’ been?”

“Wonderful now that I get to see my baby boy again. And you brought a friend! How exciting!”

Klaus pulled Dave forward and introduced him. Dave stepped forward and shook her hand.

“Is anyone else home?” Klaus asked.

“No, sweetheart, it’s just me.” She kept smiling, but it looked more forced at that. Her demeanor made Dave feel uneasy, but he continued to smile back to be polite.

“Well, Dave, it looks like we didn’t need to be sneaky after all.” He sighed then looked back to his mom. He did a twirl and said, “Dave and I were about to play dress-up. What do you think of our looks?”

She beamed as she said, “You boys look absolutely amazing! Like true superstars!"

Both boys smiled from ear to ear at that. Mrs. Hargreeves then began lighting up with excitement as she said,

“You boys should stay for dinner! I could make your favorite, Klaus! Oh, how I miss cooking for you children. It gets so quiet in this house without you all in it. I know Luther misses you all dearly, he would be thrilled to see you here. I-” She froze for just a moment, blinking with the ever present smile still pasted on her face, before she continued. The only indicator that anything had happened was the look in her eyes as she said the next words. It was almost as if she didn’t want to say them, “I suppose your father would want to see you as well.”

Klaus’ shoulders immediately shot up with tension at the words and he moved to gather his things as he said in a voice higher than usual, “That sounds really nice, but we really should get going. We’ve got a, uh, thing to get to and are already running late.”

The sorrow in Mrs. Hargreeves’s eyes was palpable as she quietly replied, “Of course.”

Klaus paused from frantically stuffing clothes into a bag to look up at her. His face fell at her expression. He swallowed and stood to go near her. He wrapped her in a hug and kissed the top of her head. He spoke softly as he rubbed circles into her back.

“Hey, I’m sorry, mom. I really do wish I could stay. But I can’t...I can’t see him.”

She closed her eyes and hugged him just as tightly as she said, “I understand.”

They stayed like that for a moment before Klaus pulled back and said excitedly, “Hey! Maybe you can call me next time he and Pogo are away and I could come over! We can bake cookies together, maybe even teach Dave here how to knit!”

Mrs. Hargreeves illuminated again, “Oh, that sounds marvelous, Klaus! I really would love that!”

Klaus didn’t have a phone, so they gave her Dave’s number. Dave tried not to smile too wide at the implication that he and Klaus would still be in contact in the distant future. Klaus quickly gathered up the rest of his things, took one last look around, and sighed.

“Well, I guess this is it.”

He delicately grabbed his mother’s hands and looked at her intently.

“I really am sorry that I can’t stay. I’ve missed you so much since I left.”

She smiled and ran a hand through his hair.

“Don’t be sorry my little honey bun. Just being able to see you again has made me happier than you could ever imagine.”

Klaus smiled sadly and squeezed her hands. He took a shaky breath and said, “Goodbye, mom.”

“Goodbye, sweetheart. I love you.”

Klaus’ eyes began to mist as he whispered softly, “I love you too.”

He took a breath, wiped his eyes, then walked out the door. Dave followed and together, they left.

 

The walk back to Dave’s apartment was a somber affair. The only noise coming from Klaus was an occasional sniffle. Dave didn’t talk either. There wasn’t much he could say to make this better. 

After about ten minutes of silence, Dave tried, “Hey...maybe we could invite your mom to the game? We can come back when no one is around?”

Klaus just shook his head, “She can’t leave the house.”

Dave startled at that, “What do you mean?”

Klaus sighed, “Dad programmed her so that she can’t leave the house.”

Dave’s confusion had started turning to concern when he hesitantly asked, “...Programmed her?”

Klaus gave a humorless laugh, “Oh, yeah, guess I forgot to mention that. She’s a robot.”

Silence.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

The conversation ended there. 

 

By the time they got inside Dave’s apartment, Klaus seemed to be trying to snap out of the mood he was in. He started fluttering around the place looking for anything to distract himself. He began opening cabinets and closets and scouring through them. What he was looking for, Dave didn’t know. He began making dinner when Klaus sprang up with the movie _Grease_ in hand. He hastily put the movie on and sat on the couch. Dave finished cooking and brought two plates full of food to the coffee table and sat on the other end of the couch.

When he looked over, Klaus wasn’t even watching the movie. He was staring intently at the floor, chewing anxiously on his lip. Dave scooted closer to him.

“Hey, is everything alright?”

Klaus blinked, “Oh, yeah, yeah everything’s fine…”

Everything didn’t look fine. His face furrowed in thought and he moved from biting his lip to biting his nails. Dave tried to comfort him by rubbing small circles on his back.

“You wanna talk about it?”

Klaus shook his head slightly, but said, “No, no. It’s fine. It’s just…” He took a deep breath, “I’m thinking about Luther.”

Dave’s eyebrows raised, “Oh?”

“Yeah, it’s just...He’s not going to come to the game.”

“Why not?”

He sighed, “He’s still stuck in that house. I wish I could help him, but I don’t know how.” He ran his hand through his hair and continued, “When we were young, all any of us ever wanted was for dad to be proud of us. We craved his approval like nothing else. He would always tell us that we were destined to save the world. He would say that all of the training, all of the pressure, _everything_ he would put on us was so that he could push us to be ready to be the heroes we were meant to be. Hell, _I_ even believed it. We would feel like we were letting him down if we couldn’t take it.” He took another ragged sigh and Dave pulled him closer, “Eventually, we all realized it was just...bullshit. It was all just a bunch of bullshit, everything he ever said. We all realized that nothing about the way he treated us was okay. That it was _wrong_. All of us except Luther. Dad always had him convinced that everything was done for a reason. That everything was right. He couldn’t let dad down. So he stayed and we all left him.”

A tear fell from Klaus’ cheek and Dave’s chest felt heavy. He pulled Klaus towards him so that Klaus’ head was laying against Dave’s chest. Dave pressed his lips gently against the top of Klaus’ head as he rubbed the man’s back soothingly. He comforted in a soft voice, “Hey, hey, hey. It’s not your fault, Klaus. This is your father’s fault, okay? This is not your fault.”

“I know,” Klaus sniffled. “It’s just that, Luther is still stuck in that horrible place with dad. Nobody deserves that. He deserves to be happy. He doesn’t even realize that what’s going on isn’t okay. I remember before I left, I had started to realize that things weren’t alright and that I hated that place, but I didn’t really realize how completely fucked up that whole situation was until I was out of it. I just wish he could break free.”

Dave closed his eyes and took a deep breath, continuing to rub circles into Klaus’ back. He had no idea what to do. He wanted to cradle Klaus in his arms and squeeze as tightly as he could. He wanted to kill Reginald Hargreeves. He wanted to wrap Klaus and his siblings up in big cozy blankets and protect them from this world. He wanted to cry. He wanted to get their mom out of that house. He wanted to save Luther Hargreeves. 

“I’m so sorry, Klaus.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“It’s not yours either.”

Klaus buried his head deeper into Dave’s chest.

“I know.”

They stayed like that for awhile, before they both fell into a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOF sorry for making this chapter sadder than usual!! i promise the next one will be happy and full of fluff! thank you so much for reading! all of your comments have made me so happy so feel free to leave another lol i thrive off of validation


	5. Feels Like I'm In Love

Dave awoke with a kink in his neck, but didn’t mind. He and Klaus were huddled together on his couch, basically on top of each other. Klaus’ face was smooshed into Dave’s shoulder, his mouth opened slightly allowing Dave to feel his breath warmly skate across his skin. 

Dave took a deep breath. He didn’t want to get up. He knew he had to go in to work today and he was dreading it. All he wanted to do was go on more adventures with Klaus. They had been together for about two days straight now, and the thought of being away from him makes him feel cold. He closed his eyes.

Yesterday had been...a whirlwind. He hadn’t gotten time to fully process it all. He had almost _kissed_ him. _Kissed!_ His heart fluttered out of his chest at the thought. Klaus had called him beautiful! Klaus had leaned in to kiss him! Dave smiled brighter than the sun. This must mean that Klaus liked him. Could that be possible? The man of his dreams actually being interested in him? Despite his doubts, all signs lead to yes. 

God, if only Dave could lay here forever. He groaned. The desire to call in sick and spend the day with Klaus was overwhelming.

Maybe he didn’t have the day, but he still had a few hours until he had to leave. He snuggled into Klaus and felt the rise and fall of his chest against his. He felt warm and fuzzy as he let himself drift back to sleep.

 

He woke to the smell of pancakes and the sound of music faintly playing. He yawned and sat up, looking around to find the source. He turned and saw Klaus twirling around his kitchen, wearing a long white skirt worn above his hips with a dark green crop top. The skirt swirled as he sauntered around the kitchen, humming contentedly to the music. Dave smiled and noticed Klaus had flour on his cheek.

Dave watched him work. He was apparently too focused on his cooking to notice Dave awake and watching. He lightly sang the words to the song and shook his hips as he flipped a pancake. Dave smiled.

“Smells good in here.” 

Klaus spun around, eyes alight with excitement, “Dave! Good morning, sleepyhead! Are you hungry? I made you breakfast, since you cooked for me yesterday! I figured that if I started a fire, I could just quickly wake you up and you could whip out your firefighting skills!”

Dave laughed, "You didn't have to do that!"

Klaus tisked teasingly, "Oh hush. Come on, let's feast."

The pancakes were surprisingly delicious. They were fluffy and light with loads of chocolate chips. 

They sat there and ate for awhile, both just enjoying each others company. After they ate, Dave realized with a sinking heart that he had to leave for work. He assured Klaus of what time he would be back and that the man can (please) stay at Dave's apartment while he’s gone. With that, he reluctantly shuffled out and went to the firestation.

 

When he arrived, Clark, Rob, and Bonnie all greeted him with teasing smiles.

"How's the new boyfriend, Katzy?" Bonnie asked with a laugh.

Dave rolled his eyes and felt himself start to blush, "Come on, guys, he's not my boyfriend."

“ _Sure_ ,” said Rob, “And he totally didn’t go home with you after the game the other day.”

Dave was _definitely_ blushing now as he quietly replied, “It wasn’t like that.”

“Awe, he’s blushing! I think Dave’s got a little crush!”

Dave rolled his eyes and Clark said, “Alright, knock it off. I think Dave’s about to die of embarrassment.”

Dave was thankful for the teasing to stop, but that didn’t take his mind off of Klaus. He just couldn’t get him out of his head. Klaus was just...perfect. Definitely too good for him. The thought stayed in his head all day. He had to see Klaus again. _Seriously, Dave?_ he thought to himself, _you_ just _met him, and now you can't even go a day without seeing him? Seriously?_ He took a deep breath. God, he was so done for.

 

He tried to contain himself as he made his way home. What if Klaus had left? He probably got bored and left. There wasn’t much to do in his apartment. Dave let himself spiral in self doubt. Klaus was definitely gone. Why was he even hanging out with Dave anyways? He probably only hung out with Dave on that first day to be polite, and now that they are working on the fundraiser together, he just feels obligated to be around him. What if their moment in Klaus’ room was nothing? What if it was all in Dave’s head and he had just made Klaus uncomfortable and-

Dave was practically sprinting up the stairs to his apartment. He flung the door open and felt a weight lift off his chest. Klaus was still there.

Eudora Patch was there too. They both looked up from where Klaus was currently painting her nails, their faces covered in a green face mask. Klaus beamed.

“Dave! You’re back!”

Dave smiled and tried not to sound breathless, “Hey guys!”

Eudora smiled with a gleam in her eye, like she knew something he didn’t, “Hey, Dave.”

“Patch brought pizza!” Klaus yelled, “And my favorite glittery nailpolish!” He stood up and thrust his fingers in front of Dave’s face. They were a shade of sparkly hot pink. 

“That’s great!” Dave laughed. Patch stood and got a piece of pizza out for Dave. He didn’t realize how hungry he was until his mouth started watering at the warm slice in front of him. He grabbed it with a “Thank you.” and sat on the couch to eat. Patch and Klaus sat back down and began painting each other’s nails again. 

“I hope you don’t mind me inviting other people over,” Klaus said, “Seeing her the other day made me realize that it’s been forever since her and I have hung out and I had so much to tell her!”

“It’s completely fine,” Dave reassured. He then turned to Eudora and said, “I’m glad you’re here. I’ve always wanted to get to know you better.”

She smiled so Dave continued, “How did you two become friends?”

“ _Well_ ,” Klaus spoke with a flourish, “It all started on a dark, _snowy_ ,” He winked at that, “winter night. I was at a little house party with some people. I was just hoping to have a nice, chill night, when suddenly I hear shouting in the next room and stumble in to see a knife fight that would even make Diego jealous! I don’t remember exactly what got them all hot and bothered, but it got so bad that someone called the cops! Everyone started running, but Patch was too fast for me and snagged me. She was very nice about it though! She wrapped me up in a big blanket while she interviewed me. We got to talking and ended up having a great time! She did confiscate my cocaine, but I sweet talked her into letting me go with a warning. We’ve been friends ever since!”

Eudora smiled fondly but rolled her eyes, “Okay, that happened, but that is _not_ how we met. I arrested you two times before that on public intoxication charges, and on one of them, you puked all over Beaman’s shoes.”

Klaus looked thoughtful at that, “Hmmm, are you sure that was me?”

“ _Yes!_ ”

“Hmmm, no, that doesn’t sound like me.”

Patch groaned dramatically and Dave laughed. They ate pizza and watched movies and laughed together all night. Patch had also brought posters for them to decorate for the game, and it turns out that Klaus is an incredible artist. He designed the fliers to hang around the city and made posters. They all had a great time. It was nearly 1 a.m. when Patch looked at her watch and groaned.

“I should head out. I have to work in the morning.”

She hugged them both, “Got any fun plans for tomorrow?”

Klaus glanced at Dave, “Well, I was thinking about getting the food situation set up but...Dave, do you have to go to work tomorrow?”

“Oh, uh, no.” Being a firefighter, he worked very odd hours. He could go days without working, then work twelve hour shifts for a week straight. 

“Great!” Klaus exclaimed, “Wanna come with me?”

Dave quickly nodded, “Yeah- uh- I’d love to!”

“Great, then it’s settled! Dave and I will continue with our shenanigans of setting up this game. Let me know if you and Diego need me!”

Eudora had a smirk on her face as she looked back and forth at the two of them, “Alright. You two have fun.”

“Will do, boss.” Klaus saluted as she made her way to the door. She gave them another quick hug and went on her way.

 

The next day, Dave and Klaus set off to meet with a guy who Klaus believes can set them up with food for the game.

“So,” Dave said “Burritos, huh?”

Klaus leaned into him and smiled, “Yep! The perfect game day treat! Imagine, it's a sunny summer day. You are all tired and sweaty and in need of a refuel from all that exercise. What more would you want than a burrito?”

Dave laughed, “And how exactly do you know this burrito guy?”

“Well,” Klaus leaned into him, “Sal lives next door to one of my old dealers. I would always run into him and we would get to chatting. Anyways, we sorta became friends. We had a deal where I would come over and teach him english and he would make me as much food as my heart would desire! He would also let me stay over and stuff too, he’s a great guy. That dealer ended up getting arrested, but Sal and I still hang out.”

Dave cocked his head, “You taught him english? What language did he speak?”

“Español, baby!” He laughed.

“You can speak Spanish?” 

“Oh yeah. Big time. It was all part of my training from the superhero glory days.”

Dave considered that, “Oh, I didn’t realize that you guys learned other languages for that…”

Klaus laughed, “Not _everyone_ did. Just me, lil ghost boy! Not all ghosts speak English, ya know, and daddy dearest wanted me to be able to understand any ghost that would come screeching my way. So I was taught, like, six languages before I dipped out.”

“ _Six languages?!_ Klaus, you must be some kind of genius.”

He shrugged, “Eh, not really. You should have seen my brother Five. He was reading quantum physics books by the time we were ten.”

Dave hummed, “Still, I think you have to be pretty smart to learn another language, let alone _six_. It’s pretty impressive.”

Klaus managed to look bashful at that, “Awe, Dave, you’re gonna make me blush.”

They made it to Sal’s apartment and Klaus knocked with a fun beat. They heard a dog barking excitedly before the door opened and an old man stood before them. He looked to be about 80 years old with a slight hunch, but he beamed when he saw Klaus.

“Sal!”

“Klaus!”

They warmly embraced. Sal planted a kiss on both of Klaus’ cheeks, who grinned at the show of affection. It reminded Dave of something his grandma would do anytime he would see her. Sal pulled back and said, “Now, who’s your friend here?”

Klaus smiled and introduced Dave, who then received an equally affectionate share of hugs and kisses. Sal ushered them in and his jumped up excitedly. Klaus squatted down and started rubbing the dog all over. 

Dave and Klaus were then ushered onto the couch as Sal fretted around the kitchen, exclaiming that Klaus was “Skin and bones” and “needed food now”.

Klaus smiled fondly, “Well, actually, one of the reasons we stopped by today is to talk to you about food related things. Specifically, you cooking food for a fundraiser thingy I’m doing? We would give you some of the money at the end to pay you for it.”

Sal turned around and squinted, “When is it?”

“Next Saturday.”

Sal nodded, “Alright. I’ll do it. What’s it for?”

Klaus perked up, “You’ll do it? Just like that?”

Sal looked at him sternly, “Klaus, you’re a good kid. I like you and I like cooking. I see no reason not to help.”

Klaus laughed but thanked him, looking extremely grateful. Sal ended up making them burritos the size of their heads, which were the best burritos that Dave had ever had. They stayed there for about an hour before Klaus and Dave decided to head out and do more preparations for the big day.

 

Once on the street, Klaus skipped happily a few paces ahead of Dave before spinning around and giving him a dazzling smile.

“Sooooo, what did you think of Sal? Cool guy, right?” 

“Yeah, he was great! He reminded me of my grandma a little bit. Always making sure we ate so much food that we think we’re about to explode.”

Klaus laughed and hooked arms with Dave, “Yeah, that’s him alright. One time he made me, like, ten tamales and wouldn’t-” 

Klaus cut himself off with a concerned look to the air next to him.

“Klaus?”

Klaus didn’t look at him, but spoke to the air, “You see him? Where?”

There was a pause before Klaus snapped his head to look behind them before widening his eyes and hissing, “ _Shit!_ ” and yanking Dave into the alley next to them.

“Klaus? What’s wrong?”

Klaus continued to pull Dave further into the alley as he gave a hushed explanation, “Shit, Dave! I just saw Bill. AKA a very big and scary dude who I owe money to! We gotta hide!”

Klaus pulled him behind a dumpster and they crouched low. They stayed there, huddled together, for about a minute before Klaus spoke.

“Is he gone?” Klaus whispered to the space next to him. He then nodded and smiled to Dave, “The coast is clear!”

Klaus extended his hand, which Dave tenderly took, and they stood. Klaus hesitantly lead them out of the alley and back on their path.

“Whew, that was a close one, Davey! Bill is seriously pissed at me right now!”

“Should we tell the police? I mean, not about...anything that would implicate you, but if he is trying to hurt you, I feel like they should know.”

“Pssshhhhh! And become a snitch? No thank you, Davey. I am doing _fine_. You don’t need to wo-”

“ _HARGREEVES!_ ”

“Shit.”

A hulking man started looming in their direction. Dave could feel his heartbeat picking up as Klaus hissed to the air, “ _I thought you said he was gone!”_

The man continued towards them and said in a menacing tone, “I thought I heard your little voice.”

Klaus painted on a smile and opened his arms in a welcoming manner. 

“Billy! How’ve ya been? I have just had the craziest few days and-”

He was cut off when Bill grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him into the alleyway. Dave shouted and grabbed the guy’s arm, but he was no match. Bill pinned Klaus against the wall.

“Where’s my money, Klaus? I’ve given you more than enough time.”

Klaus giggled hysterically, “Funny story about that! I’ve run into a few financial troubles as of late, you know how it is, but if you just give me a few more days, I-”

Bill yanked him forward and slammed him back again, hard. “You don’t have a few more days.”

Dave swallowed his fears. He could not let Klaus get hurt, “Get away from him.”

Bill turned to him as if just noticing him, “Oh, yeah?” Klaus shook his head, eyes pleading Dave to stop. Bill laughed, “And what are you going to do about it?”

Dave clenched his fists, trying to look tough. He could do this. He had to protect Klaus.

“You’re gonna let go, or I’m going to make you.”

Bill looked amused, but let go of Klaus’ shirt to face him.

“You’re going to _make me?_ Did I hear that right, little boy?” Bill was now towering over him. Dave tried not to look completely terrified. 

Klaus’ nervous laughter cut through the tension. He stepped in between the two, “He was just kidding! Weird sense of humor. No harm, no foul! Right, Billy? Now let’s talk about this money I owe you! I believe you were mad at _me_ , yes?”

Bill pushed Klaus out of the way. Dave felt anger trickling through his body. He shoved Bill back forcefully and yelled, “Don’t _touch_ him!”

The reaction was instantaneous. Dave heard Klaus shout as Bill cocked his fist back and swung. Dave saw stars as he fell back into the pavement. He hit the ground with a _thud_ and darkness overcame him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im alive!!! sorry for taking forever!! i was traveling a lot and then started and got obsessed with another fic (which you should totally read lol im very proud of it lmaoooo) BUT ive still got a lot of this to write!!! i had major writers block with this chapter and im not sure if im happy with it but i still hoped you enjoyed!!! also sorry for the cliffhanger lol! ill try to update soon but school is starting this week and life is getting crazy so it might be a hot sec. comment and lmk what you thought of this chapter! love yall!


	6. be my rock

The first thing Dave felt was throbbing pain. His head was pounding. The entire left side of his face felt white hot. He heard someone speaking above him. 

_“Oh god, oh fuck, oh god this is all my fault what do I do what do I-”_

Everything sounded muffled, like Dave had cotton in his ears. He tried to open his eyes, but quickly stopped. Everything was too bright. He groaned.

_“Dave? Oh, thank god. Dave, can you hear me?”_

He tried to open his eyes again. His left eye remained shut but he was able to blink his right open. Everything looked hazy, but he could make out the green eyes of an angel looking down at him.. The sun shone through their curly hair. They had blood on their lips…? Wait, that’s not an angel, it’s-

“Klaus?” he croaked. Klaus gently held his face with his hands.

“Yes, Dave, it’s me. I’m so sorry, oh my god. This is all my fault. I can’t believe-”

Dave squinted up at him and brought a shaking hand to Klaus’ face, “You’re bleeding.”

Klaus blinked then gave a surprised laugh, “What?”

“You’re bleeding,” Dave mumbled out, “Someone hurt you. Why would they do that?”

Klaus gave him a look that he was unable to process before gently speaking, “Dave, I think you have a concussion. We have to get you to a hospital, okay?”

Dave tried to shake his head, but felt a spike of pain, “No, I’m fine. I don’t- I’m- Wh- Someone hurt you.”

Dave felt Klaus’ hand softly stroke against his cheek. “I’m fine. _You’re_ not fine. We need to get you out of here. Can you stand?”

Dave tried to sit up and immediately regretted it, “I think I’m gonna throw up.”

Klaus’ eyes widened, “Oh jeez, okay. That’s okay.” A beat. “Ben says that’s a sign of a concussion and that I should take you to a hospital now.”

Dave groaned, “I don’t wanna go to a hospital! I wanna stay here with you!”

“Okay, I hate hospitals too but we really should get out of here before he wakes up.” He gestured behind him and Dave looked to see a large man lying unconscious on the ground.

Dave blinked, “Who’s that?”

“That’s Bill, remember?”

“...oh, yeah.”

Klaus grimaced, “Okay, I’m gonna help you stand now. Diego only lives about a block from here and if we can make it there, he could drive us to the hospital.”

He shifted so Klaus could slide his arms around him and hoist him into a standing position. He swayed on his feet. His head felt like it was going to burst and the movement did not help his nausea. Klaus wrapped his arm around Dave and held tight, guiding him out of the alley. They shuffled around Bill, who was still knocked out.

“What happened to that guy?” Dave mumbled out.

“I took care of it, hon, don't worry about it. Let’s keep moving.”

Klaus was practically carrying all of Dave’s weight as they stumbled out of the alley. Dave’s mind felt fuzzy like all of his thoughts had jumbled together. He hummed and leaned more into Klaus, who in turn tried to stifle a grunt as he continued dragging him along.

“Where are we going?” Dave mumbled. Klaus squeezed him tighter.

“We are going to Diego’s so we can make sure you’re alright.”

Dave groaned and leaned his face into Klaus’ neck. He had such a cute neck. “I’m _fine_. You’re freaking out about _nothing_.” 

“You are so _not_ fine Mr. I-Can’t-Walk-Without-Klaus-Holding-Me-Upright.” The man teased.

His voice was muffled in Klaus’ neck as he responded, “Hmm I am walking fine.” He felt Klaus’ neck getting goosebumps as he talked into it. It’s not cold? Why was Klaus getting goosebumps when it was so hot out? Why is Klaus cold? Klaus is hot so he isn’t supposed to be cold because-

“You’re hot.” He heard himself murmuring. Klaus stiffened for a moment, then continued forward.

“You have a head injury.” Klaus replied back. 

Dave groaned again, “ _Nooo_ , you don’t get it. You have goosebumps, but goosebumps come when you’re cold...but you’re _hot_. Know what I mean? You’re cold right now but you’re _hot_ , Klaus.”

Klaus was suppressing a smile and...was he blushing? Dave lifted his head to look at him better. Klaus was so beautiful. He glanced at Dave. His forest green eyes could have pierced his soul. They were looking at him with concern as Klaus began talking, “Okay, let’s recap. You were literally knocked unconscious, can’t walk right, are nauseous, slurring your words, confused and speaking gibberish. I’m thinking maybe we should skip Diego’s and just call an ambulance.”

Dave felt himself pouting, “I am _not_ slurring _or_ talking gibberish.”

Klaus laughed, “You literally sound drunk right now, Dave!”

Dave huffed, "Whatever."

Klaus cackled. They stumbled their way to the gym that Diego lived in and Klaus started banging on the door to his apartment. Dave cringed at the noise and Klaus gave him an apologetic look. They waited there for several moments with no response. 

“ _Well_ ,” Klaus huffed, “It seems like today's the day that Diego decided to actually leave his apartment for once. Good thing I’m an excellent lock picker!”

Klaus looked at him mischievously before he went to work on the door. Only a minute later the door was open and Klaus was leading Dave inside. Klaus set Dave on the bed and began mumbling.

“Okay, so what first? ...Dark? Good thing Diego lives in a cave….Ice pack, right!”

Before Dave knew it, Klaus was kneeling in front of where he sat, gently pressing something cold to the side of his face. Dave flinched from the cold. Klaus gave him a sympathetic look.

“Sorry, Davey. This will help with the swelling.” He said softly.

Dave looked into his big green eyes and held still as Klaus reset the pack. Klaus met his gaze for a moment, then cast his eyes to the floor.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” He whispered. Dave blinked.

“Done what?”

“Tried to fight Bill. You shouldn’t have. It was fine.”

Dave grabbed Klaus’ wrist and scrunched his eyebrows, “He was gonna hurt you.”

“Well he _did_ hurt _you_!” Klaus snapped. Dave let go of Klaus’ wrist and Klaus sighed and rubbed a hand over his face, “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to-” He huffed, “I’m just- You can’t get hurt, alright? I don’t- You-You’re important.” 

Dave cocked his head to the side, “You’re important too.”

Klaus closed his eyes and shook his head, “Dave, I-” he swallowed, “I’ve never felt the way I do when I’m around you. You’re good. Like, actually, really good. And you make me feel…flustered.” Klaus’ face was turning red as he continued, “And warm and excited, and now you’re hurt and it’s all my fault!”

Dave’s head felt heavy as he shook it, but he tried to remain focused, “It’s not your fault. I’m the one who shoved him and-”

“You only did that because of me!” Klaus burst. He ran his hand through his curly locks as he continued, “You got hurt because of me. That’s what happened. You would be fine right now if you didn’t know me.”

Dave did not like the direction that this conversation was heading. “Maybe I would be fine, but I don’t regret meeting you, Klaus. You have to know that.”

If anything, the comment seemed to rile Klaus up more, “What about it don’t you regret? You seriously don’t regret being punched in the face by my drug dealer? Or what about when I was so strung out on Xanax after your game that you had to babysit me, you don’t regret that? Or how about when I was too busy popping pills to realize that I was burning my sister’s place down? And now I’m making you run all over town with me as I try to make it up for her! God! I’m hijacking your life and you’re too nice to tell me to fuck off!”

Klaus stood quickly and began pacing, chewing on his nails. Dave tried to think of ways to fix this. His brain was too muddled to handle a situation like this. 

“Klaus, that is _not_ what is happening _at all_.”

Klaus gave him an incredulous look but let him continue, “It’s not! I like being with you! Do you know that I panicked all day long when I had to go to work yesterday, just because I had convinced myself that you had gotten bored of me and left?”

Klaus’ eyes grew obscenely wide at that and Dave continued, “I don’t care that I got punched in the face. I don’t care that you started a fire in your sister’s apartment. I don’t care about any of it. I care about _you_.”

Klaus blinked a few times before slowly making his way back to the bed. He sat down next to Dave and fidgeted his hands.

“Oh.”

Dave smiled softly and wondered how he had the courage to say all of that. He had been thinking it for awhile, but actually saying it...The Dave of a week ago wouldn’t dream of it. Hell, the Dave of a week ago couldn’t even ask Klaus to hang out without stumbling over his words. 

“You can do a lot better than me, you know.” Klaus’ quiet voice cut through his thoughts. Dave looked over to see Klaus’ big green eyes staring into his soul. 

“There is no one better than you, Klaus.”

Klaus somehow looked like heartbroken at the words. His face crumpled and he looked away. Dave furrowed his brows. What was happening? He heard Klaus sniffle, “Klaus?”

Klaus looked to him with eyes glassy with tears. He quickly wiped his eyes before hurriedly responding, “Sorry. I’m happy, I swear. I don’t know why I’m crying.”

Dave pulled the man close against his chest and rubbed soothing circles into his back, “It’s okay,” he soothed, “You have nothing to apologize for.”

Klaus sniffled and pulled back to look Dave in the eye, “I’m gonna become better, Dave. I swear it. I’m gonna become someone that you deserve.”

Dave’s heart broke as he responded, “Klaus...you already are.”

Klaus crumpled again, but gave a watery laugh as he leaned into Dave’s chest again, “God, you have to stop saying things like that.”

Dave smirked and ran his hand through Klaus’ hair, “Hmm, don’t think I will.”

Klaus laughed again, but cut off when a knife lodged itself in the wall above their heads. Klaus groaned dramatically and lifted his head as Diego sauntered into the room, looking annoyed. 

“Ughhh, Diego, you’re ruining a moment.”

“Then have your moment somewhere else.” Diego grunted. He stomped over before freezing. His eyes danced over Dave’s beaten face, Klaus’ busted lip, and the tears that Klaus was hastily wiping off of his face. His eyes widened and he immediately stormed forward in fury.

“ _WHAT. DID. YOU. DO._ ”

The sound vibrated around Dave’s already throbbing skull. Klaus yelped as Diego grabbed the front of Dave’s shirt and yanked him up. Diego stared ferociously at Dave, whom he held barely an inch away from his face.

“YOU THINK IT’S FUN TO BEAT UP ON MY BROTHER, HUH?”

“DIEGO THAT IS _NOT_ WHAT HAPPENED!” Klaus yelled back, shoving Diego away from him. Dave fell back onto the bed when released. Diego looked incredulous, yet still furious as he continued.

“YEAH? THEN TELL ME WHAT THE HELL DID HAPPEN. WHO DID THAT? DO NOT LIE TO ME, KLAUS.”

“Dave got hurt _defending_ me, Diego!! We are here so you can drive us to the hospital!”

Diego went on a face journey at those words. The emotion he settled on was anger, “Defending you? Defending you from who, Klaus?!”

Klaus threw his head back and gave the most theatrical groan that Dave had ever heard, “Oh my god, who _cares_? We have to go!”

Diego clenched his jaw and muttered, “Fine,” before snatching his keys and stomping out the door. Klaus gave Dave an apologetic smile before helping him up and out the door. They both shuffled into the backseat of Diego’s car. Diego glanced at them through his rearview mirror before starting the car and pulling out.

They drove in silence for awhile. Klaus had reached over and intertwined his hand with Dave’s. 

“So,” Diego spoke, “What actually happened?”

Klaus rolled his eyes, “Nothing. Seriously, no need to freak out.”

Diego squinted back at them, “So I shouldn’t worry about the fact that someone clearly beat the shit out of you?”

“Well, technically _I’m_ the one who beat the shit out of _him_. But whatever.”

Diego did not seem convinced, “Really?”

“Hey!” Klaus pouted, “I had the same training as you!”

Diego snorted, “I guess.”

“You should have seen it. I whipped out all of the cool superhero moves. I even pulled that Black Widow style jumping take down! You know, the one with the legs and the head!” Klaus turned to Dave, “It was very sexy, I really wish you saw it.”

Dave blushed but Diego tilted his head, “Why didn’t Dave see?”

“Oh! All of my sexy moves came out after Bill had punched Dave. So Dave was knocked unconscious and then I _-and I’m quoting here-_ 'went sicko mode’.”

Diego did not seem amused by his ramblings, “So you waited till after this guy attacked Dave to do anything?”

“Well I wasn’t going to do anything at all if Dave wasn’t there, but Bill hit him and-”

Diego literally turned around from where he was driving to glare at Klaus, “You weren’t going to defend yourself if you were alone.”

“ _Diego, turn around what the fuck!”_

“You were just going to let some freak attack you?” Diego continued to glare, while somehow not crashing the car. Dave turned to look at Klaus too. Maybe he was too concussed to question this earlier, but Klaus did somehow manage to take down Bill The Giant seemingly easily, despite allowing the man to pin him against a wall and shove him around before….

Diego finally turned back to the road but was staring daggers at Klaus in the rearview mirror. He was fuming, but his gaze contained sharp concern. Klaus meanwhile was stammering for something to say.

“Well, I...Bill was... _Ugh!_ Listen, usually when some big guy is all mad at me like that, it's better to just let it play out, you know? Then we can all just forget it and move on. Boom. Done.”

There was silence in the car. Klaus shifted uncomfortably. 

“They would stop dealing to me if I-" He cut himself off and redirected. "I mean, it’s never anything _terrible!_ You know what they say, ‘time heals all wounds’, right?” He laughed nervously in the tense silence of the car. “It’s not a big deal, guys, stop freaking out.”

“It is a big deal!” Diego burst. Klaus looked down at his lap, then over to Dave. Dave gave his hand a squeeze.

“Diego’s right,” Dave said quietly, “You have to take care of yourself.”

Klaus looked between the two of them, taking several deep breaths. He then closed his eyes and started rolling down the window. 

“Klaus?” 

Klaus didn’t respond. Once the window was down he opened his eyes and quickly jammed his hand into his pocket, pulling out a small bag filled with pills. Without looking at it, he threw the bag out the window with all of his might. He gasped as it flew behind the car. He blinked owl-eyed at Dave and Diego, who were looking at him in astonishment. 

“Klaus?” Diego inquired gently.

Klaus was taking deep breaths but smiling, “I’m gonna do it.” He took Dave’s hand again, “I’m going to actually try this time. I want to get sober.”

Dave could feel Klaus’ hand shaking with nerves, but he could tell by the look in his eye that he was telling the truth. 

Diego was looking to him with wary hope, “Really? ‘Cause I’ll be here to help with whatever you need, bro. You know I want to help.”

Klaus nodded, breathless, “I know. I really want it this time.” He seemed just as shocked by this as the other two. Diego smiled back at him. His brown eyes twinkled with warmth. 

“I’m proud of you, Klaus.”

Klaus looked surprised for only a moment before recovering with a soft smile, “Thanks, Diego.”

They drove forward in content silence after that, love was radiating throughout the car. Dave was tracing his thumb over Klaus’ knuckles. Whatever the future held, he knew that they could get through it together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayyyyeeeeee lmk what you think!! also!!!! i have a tumblr and it would make me so happy if yall screeched at me on it ahahhahah @narwhalnation17 is my username idk how to link it on here lmao


	7. trouble in paradise

Dave ran a soothing hand down Klaus’ quivering back. They were sitting on the cold floor of Dave’s bathroom and had been camped out there for some time. Klaus was sweaty and shaking, with tears streaking his eyeliner down his face. Dave hushed reassuring words as the man retched up everything that remained in his stomach.

“Shhh, it’ll be okay. You’ll feel better soon, you just gotta get through this.”

Yesterday the doctor had told them that Dave had a pretty minor concussion and that as long as he got enough rest this week, he should heal just fine. They had gone home and had a pretty quiet night. Him and Klaus had fallen asleep on his couch in the middle of watching some trashy rom-com. It was peaceful and fun and they were happy. But today, they had woken up to Klaus experiencing withdrawals and it was _not_ going well.

Klaus retched again then rested his forehead on the cold porcelain. He took several shuddering breaths before wiping the tears from his face and turning to Dave with desperate eyes.

“Dave…” he sounded defeated, “Dave, I can’t do this. I can’t. This was a mistake-”

“No, c’mon, you’re doing great, okay? You can do this, I know you can.”

“No I can’t, you don’t understand. I really can’t.”

“You _can_ , Klaus!” Dave insisted, “You are so strong!”

“I’m not. I wish I was, but I’m just _not_. This is pointless! We both know I’m gonna relapse at some point anyway. This is- this is just…” he trailed off and closed his eyes in defeat. 

Dave cupped his cheeks in his hands, “Hey, listen to me,” Klaus opened his watering eyes, “I know this feels impossible and pointless, but it’s _not_. You’re making Diego proud. You’re making _me_ proud. You can do this!”

Klaus gave a slight shake of his head, “I’m going to relapse at some point...none of this is going to matter.”

“If you relapse, then you’ll have to go through this again, which will suck, but you’ll know you can get through it because by then you will have already done it once! If you do it now, you will always know that you _can_ do it! You’ll always know that it’s possible!”

Klaus stared at Dave for several moments, analyzing every expression on his face. He then looked down and took a deep, steadying breath, “I’m sorry I got your hopes up...but the only thing I can think about right now is getting another hit. The doctor said you need rest so you can’t stay up all night babysitting me, and I know the moment you go to bed I’m just going to sneak out.” He swallowed thickly, “I’m so sorry, Dave. I shouldn’t have even tried because now you’ll all be so disappointed and-”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Tears began streaming down Klaus’ face as Dave sought desperately to reassure him, “It’s going to be okay. I do have to rest up, but guess what? I called Diego and he is coming to stay the night with us. I don’t think you could sneak past him even if you wanted to.” This received a wet chuckle from Klaus, “Never regret trying to get sober, Klaus. We won’t get disappointed with you for making mistakes, we are all just proud of you for trying.”

Klaus closed his eyes and let his head fall onto Dave’s shoulder. Dave resumed stroking comforting waves down Klaus’ back. The two laid there, wrapped up in each other as they waited out the nausea.

Eventually, a knocking echoed through Dave’s apartment signaling Diego’s arrival. Dave helped Klaus walk over to the couch before letting Diego inside. He shot Dave a nod before cautiously walking in, holding a big bowl filled with something that smelled delicious. He wandered over to Klaus with furrowed brows.

“Hey bro,” he knelt down in front of him, “How ya feeling?”

Klaus gave him a wan smile, “Peachy.”

Diego smiled softly and held the bowl up, “I stopped by to see Mom and she made this soup for you. It’s the soup she would always make when one of us was sick.”

Klaus snorted and began scratching his arm, “Was Luther there?”

Diego shook his head, “There are certain times during the week where everyone goes to some off-site training thing for Luther,” he rolled his eyes, “I go in during that to see Mom every once in awhile.”

Klaus furrowed his brows at that but didn’t comment. Diego raked his eyes over Klaus’ frame with a frown. Klaus was very obviously not doing well. He was visibly shaking, his face was drained of color, and he was sweaty and clammy. Diego reached forward and placed the back of his palm onto Klaus’ forehead. Klaus immediately made a face and swatted the hand away, causing Diego to shoot him an annoyed look.

“Klaus! I’m trying to see if you have a fever! Don’t be an idiot.”

Klaus blew a raspberry and Diego shot him another look before rolling his eyes and reaching into his pocket, “You know, I also did bring this, but if you wanna be a little bastard instead of watching it…” 

He pulled the movie _Mama Mia_ out from his pocket. Klaus breathed in with an excited smile on his face before shooting Diego a look of pure innocence.

“I wouldn’t dare be a little bastard to my favorite brother in the world,” he said, then hissed into the air next to him. 

Diego snorted, “A-huh. Sure.”

Dave watched the scene with a smile. He got together some bowls for the soup as Diego began to set up the movie. They all settled into the couch with Klaus in the middle. Dave served up the soup and handed a bowl to the other men. 

As the movie went on, Dave and Diego would occasionally sneak glances over at Klaus to see how he was holding up. He didn’t eat much of the soup and opted to just stir it noncommittally around his bowl. Dave wasn’t overly shocked by this but wished he could do more to help. 

Eventually, with Klaus leaning up beside him, Dave began dozing off to sleep. He kept catching his head drooping slowly towards his chest before jolting up with a start. He would have moments of feeling alert before being lulled into slumber once more. After the third or fourth time he jerked awake, Klaus nudged him with his elbow.

“You know you can go to sleep, right? Diego is here, everything’s going to be fine,” Klaus asked softly, eyes lit with quiet amusement.

Dave shook his head, “No, no, no, it’s fine. I-”

“Dave,” Klaus cut in, “You need to rest so your cute little noggin can heal! C’mon, you can use my shoulder as a pillow.”

Dave felt himself blushing as Klaus wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him in close. Dave rested his head across Klaus’ chest and let himself relax. Klaus quietly murmured into his hair, “See? Comfy and cozy.”

Dave hummed, “Wake me up when the movie ends...or when Diego starts to get tired…or..whenever...”

Klaus exhaled a soft laugh, letting a puff of air blow through Dave’s hair, “I don’t think Diego ever gets tired.”

“You know I’m sitting right here? Get a room.”

Dave giggled sleepily and let himself drift off…

...Only to jolt awake at the sound of a yelp and a crash. He blinked around, completely disoriented. It was dark out, so it must have been an hour or two since he had fallen asleep. He looked over to see Diego pinning Klaus down as he thrashed around on the ground. Both men were yelling angrily at each other.

“GET OFF ME, ASSHOLE!”

“NO! I CAN’T EVEN LOOK AWAY FOR FIVE SECONDS WITHOUT YOU TRYING TO SNEAK OFF TO GET HIGH! GODDAMNIT, KLAUS!”

“MAYBE YOU SHOULD JUST LET ME! WE ALL KNOW I’M GOING TO DO IT SOONER OR LATER!”

“ _NO_ YOU’RE NOT. I WON’T LET YOU.”

“WHAT, ARE YOU GONNA FOLLOW ME AROUND FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE? GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!”

“MAYBE I WILL!”

“GOD, YOU ARE SO ANNOYING! LET. ME. GO.”

“NO!”

“FUCK!”

Klaus continued to squirm erratically from beneath Diego, who -although looked murderously annoyed- easily maintained his hold. After a moment of that, Klaus stilled with a frustrated huff. Diego raised his eyebrows and Klaus shot him a glare.

Dave crept closer, wringing his hands. He should have been _awake_. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why didn’t Diego wake him up? This is all Dave’s fault and Klaus could have _relapsed_ and-

Dave spoke up in a quiet voice, “Um, Klaus?”

Klaus’ expression morphed into distress as he quickly looked to Dave. He opened his mouth, closed it, then licked his lips anxiously. Diego looked at Klaus with raised eyebrows before turning to Dave, “He tried to sneak out while I was in the bathroom.”

“Oh,” was all Dave said. Klaus was looking at Dave with an unreadable expression. Dave just wished he could take away all of his pain. He shouldn’t have fallen asleep. How could he be so selfish! His boyfriend was going through _withdrawals_ and he had to go and take a _nap?!_ What was wrong with him!? Klaus should just leave him now. Diego can be there for him better than Dave ever could. Klaus should dump him and find someone better and-

Wait. Dave paused. Dump him? _They aren't even dating._ Dave wanted to smack himself in the face. He is doing exactly what he always does: letting his expectations get the best of him. He scolded himself.

He took a deep breath. Okay, one thing he does know for sure is that he cares about Klaus and Klaus cares about him. Despite not officially dating, they have something. Something special. It’s unspoken but it’s true. Dave would go to the ends of the earth for this man, and he has the feeling Klaus would do the same for him. 

Dave shouldn’t feel guilty for falling asleep, just as Klaus shouldn’t feel bad for trying to sneak out. Sure, Dave wished he wouldn’t, but he is suffering from withdrawals from the addiction he has had since _childhood._ That can’t be easy. Klaus doesn’t need to deal with Dave’s guilt and insecurity, he just needs all the love and support he can get.

He looked over to see Klaus and Diego were now sitting up and glaring at each other. Dave swallowed and quietly asked, “Klaus, can we talk?”

Klaus’ eyes widened and he gave a stiff nod before getting up to walk over. Dave led them into his bedroom for some privacy and sat on the bed. Klaus twitched and hesitantly sat down next to him, keeping his eyes glued to the floor. 

“Klaus?” Dave asked quietly. Klaus quickly glanced at Dave before looking away, fidgeting. Dave reached over and put one of Klaus’ clammy hands in his own, “Klaus, I wish you would feel like you can wake me up to ask for help when you need it.”

Klaus blinked, “I...what?”

“It’s not a big deal to wake me up. I want to help, Klaus.”

Klaus was shaking his head slightly with a look of pure befuddlement, “Wh- But- You’re not mad?”

Dave squeezed his hand, “Of course not!” he insisted, “I can’t imagine how hard this must be, but just promise you’ll wake me up next time, okay? I promise I won’t be mad. I just want to help.”

Klaus furrowed his brows and didn’t respond. Dave swallowed and softly continued, “Can you do that for me?”

Klaus clenched his jaw and looked down at his lap. He murmured out a small response, “I just feel like I’m being so annoying.”

Dave shook his head and inched forward, “Hey, no, no, no. Why would you think that?”

Klaus shrugged and swallowed thickly. He fidgeted for a moment before responding, “It’s my own fault I can’t even get through the night without anything in my system. You have actual problems. You got a concussion and need rest. I don’t want to wake you up and dump all of this on you. It’s stupid.”

“No it’s not. Klaus, I _want_ to help. Me and Diego both do. We care about you so much. And withdrawals are definitely actual problems, so don’t try to tell me otherwise. You can tell us when you need help.”

Klaus bit his lip and didn’t say anything. Dave furrowed his brows and continued, “Klaus, I care about you. I care about you _so much_. I don’t want you to feel like you have to hide anything from me. If you’re sad, I want to know. If you're mad, I want to know. If you are struggling like I know you are right now, _I want to know._ I want to know because I want to try to make it better. I just want to be there to help in any way I can and I know you’d do the same for me. Your feelings aren’t a burden, Klaus. You’re allowed to ask for help.”

Klaus took several deep and unsteady breathes before turning to look at Dave. His eyes were slightly watery and he was gnawing his lip raw. His eyes examined Dave’s face and he opened and closed his mouth several times, searching for words. He ended up uttering a choked off sob before reaching forward and pulling Dave into a tight embrace. Dave immediately hugged back and felt Klaus heaving his breaths. Dave rubbed a hand back and forth down Klaus’ back, muttering soothing words in his ear. Klaus began babbling out words in a rush, “It’s just _torture_ -it’s impossible-I can’t do this!- I feel like I’m crawling out of my skin- I don’t know what to do- it’s not just like I really want a hit, it’s like I _need_ a hit- I can’t think about anything else- I can’t focus on _anything_ \- I just need it- I can’t do this, it’s impossible- _I need it_ \- I don’t- I don’t know what to do- I-”

Dave continued hushing reasurrances into Klaus’ ear until he was all cried out. Klaus eventually slumped against him, sniffling occasionally as Dave ran soothing fingers through his hair. Klaus’ sniffles turned into soft snores and Dave smiled and gently laid Klaus down on the bed and tucked him in under the covers. Dave took a deep breath, said a silent prayer and crawled in beside him. He took another look at the man next to him, still beautiful even in his exhausted slumber, and closed his eyes to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Diego's just in the living room sitting on the floor and petting Dave's cat.  
> Anyways, it's been awhile!! I really hope you enjoyed! Comment and let me know what you think!  
> You can also hit me up on tumblr @narwhalnation17


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